THE 



LITTLE PEOPLE 
OF THE GARDEN 




RUTH 0. DYER 




The Little People 



j# 



OF THE 

^Garden 



lag? 




Books by 

RUTH 0. DYER 

Cloth Illustrated 
The Sleepy-Time Story-Book 


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That's Why Stories 


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The Daytime Story-Book 


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The Little People of the Garden 


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The Belle of the Garden. — Page 183. 



The Little People 

OF THE 

Garden 

Rjjth Q Dyer/ 

-A 




Boston 
Lothrop, Lee d Shepa^d Co. 







Copyright, 1922 
By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 

Printed in U. S. A, 



< 



APR -I 1922 



g)0!.A659427 



'Vvp 




A LL children have doubtless met Miss 
Apis, Miss Formica, the Little Plough, 
the Mother of a Million Babies, Mr. Rana, 
the Mother Who Carries Her Babies in a Silk 
Bag, the Insect Who Eats Her Cast-off 
Clothes, the Belle of the Garden, and Jasper's 
Old Enemy; but few know all the things 
which Jasper found out about these friends 
during his sojourn in the beautiful garden. 

If this small boy's experiences can so 
quicken the interest of those who read that 

5 



FOREWORD 

they will be inspired to learn more about the 
little people of the garden; if sympathy for 
the out-of-door folk be aroused through these 
stories, then much has been accomplished. 

When these stories are read in schools, 
teachers should have in their schoolrooms speci- 
mens of the insects, so that their habits may be 
closely observed. When read at home, parents 
and older brothers and sisters will enjoy help- 
ing in the actual study of these smaller forms 
of life. 

I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness 

to a host of scientists whose books I have 

freely consulted. 

Ruth O. Dyer. 





I. Jasper Makes the Acquaintance of 
the Fairy .... 

II. Jasper Meets Miss Apis 

III. Another Day with Miss Apis . 

IV. The Most Industrious Insect . 

V. Jasper Makes the Acquaintance of 
the Little Plough . 

VI. The Mother of a Million Babies 

VII. Jasper Spends the Day With Mr. 
Eana, the Most Eenowned Jumper 
in the World . 



11 
23 
38 
61 

84 
100 

117 



CONTENTS 

VIII. The Mother Who Carries Her 
Babies in a Silk Bag Until They 
Are Large Enough to Bide Upon 
Her Back 140 

IX. Jasper Makes the Acquaintance of 
a Queer Insect Who Eats Her 
Cast-off Clothes Instead of 
Giving Them Away . . .165 



X. The Belle of the Garden . 

XI. Jasper Meets an Old Enemy 



182 
192 



XII. The Little People of the Garden 
Prepare for Winter, and Jasper 
Eeturns Home 201 





4 3*1* *&* *#* 




The Little People 



OF THE 





JASPER MAKES THE 
ACQUAINTANCE OF THE FAIRY 

I T was apple-blossom time, and all the trees 
were trying their best to be the first to put 
on the colors of springtime. Spring was 
in the air. It could be felt in the warm breeze 
which blew in from the orchard. It could be 

11 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

heard in the warble of the birds, and in the 
cackle of the hens. It could be seen every- 
where. 

Jasper Nichols felt the presence of the 
springtime. It stole in to him from the sweet- 
scented blossoms. It was echoed to him from 
the garden and the poultry-yard. He could 
see evidences of it from the open window, but 
what troubled him was the fact that he could 
not get out into the warm spring sunshine. 

He could hear the insects in the garden, 
and he longed to be about his favorite sport, 
teasing and tormenting those defenseless 
creatures. 

But why couldn't he run and play as was 
his usual custom? You had but to glance at 
the screen door through which the sunlight 
fell in long slanting rays to see that it was 
fastened from the outside. While Jasper had 

12 



OF THE GARDEN 

the whole of the large living-room in which to 
play, the great, wide out-of-doors was denied 
him. 

He was being punished for his cruelty to 
small creatures. He was being punished be- 
cause he had over and over again taken ad- 
vantage of the helplessness of life in forms 
weaker than his own. 

His mother had seen this tendency growing 
day by day. He had captured and tormented 
bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, and many 
other kinds of insects found in the garden. 
Only that morning he had taken the canary 
from its cage and teased it until the poor 
thing refused to sing. This was the reason 
why Jasper was denied the pleasures of 
the garden on this beautiful spring morn- 
ing. 

" Jasper," his mother had said as she put 

13 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

on her hat and gloves, " your father and I are 
going into the city. We had planned that 
you should go with us, but as you have been 
growing more and more cruel each day in 
spite of all our efforts, we think you need to be 
punished." 

Then the screen door was closed and his 
mother explained, " Perhaps if you stay here 
alone for the day you will be able to realize 
what it means to the insects you have so often 
captured to be bottled instead of having the 
whole garden in which to fly. Sarah will 
bring you your dinner at the proper time." 

His mother bade him good-bye and went on 
her way. Jasper looked out on the trees cov- 
ered with their wealth of pink-and-white blos- 
soms and drew in long breaths of the sweet- 
scented air which came in through the open 
windows. He realized that his punishment 

14 



OF THE GARDEN 

was just, therefore no trace of rebellion could 
be seen except a dissatisfied frown. 

No sooner had the sound of the departing 
automobile died away than Jasper began 
roaming about the room. He could not find 
much in the living-room to afford him amuse- 
ment. For a while he entertained himself by 
mocking the birds in the linden-tree near the 
window. He could deceive them quite suc- 
cessfully, for he knew many of their calls. 
Having tired of this, he walked over to the 
fireplace and began stirring the cold ashes in 
the grate, for the weather had only recently 
grown too mild for a fire. 

" I will build a little village in the grate," 
he said to himself, and he began shaping the 
ashes into small mounds and hollowing out 
streets between as he talked to himself. 
" Here is the post-office," he said. " Here is 

15 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

the road that goes by the station. Here is the 
public well. O my, what is that? " 

Jasper got up from his knees and looked in 
wonder at the tiny creature which sprang 
from the ashes and perched upon his hand. 
He was sure that in all his knowledge of na- 
ture and her people he had never before seen 
such a queer little creature. It looked like a 
tiny person, but it had wings quite as beauti- 
ful as those of a butterfly, and two shapely 
legs on which it stood erect. All the features 
of its face were well developed, but so small 
that the tiny eyes looked like pin-points, and 
the golden hairs on its head were so fine that 
Jasper dared not touch them. 

"Who are you, anyway?" asked Jasper, 
" and why are you living in this dark grate 
when it is so beautiful out of doors?" 

"Who am I?" asked the little creature, 

16 



OF THE GARDEN 

giving a ringing laugh which sounded like the 
tinkle of a silver bell. " Why, I am a fairy- 
messenger sent from Fairyland to deliver a 
message to one named Jasper Nichols. I am 
not in this dirty grate because I like it better 
than I do the sunlit meadows and the fairy 
shades of the garden, but because it is my 
queen's wish that Jasper Nichols shall receive 
this message as soon as possible." 

" Well, I am Jasper Nichols," said the 
boy. 

" Oh, you are? " said the fairy messenger. 
" I had thought I should find a boy with dirty 
hands and face, one careless both in dress and 
in manners, but I believe I am to deal with a 
little gentleman." 

This speech rather confused Jasper and he 
did not reply, only looked down at his fresh 
waist and trousers, which, because of his pun- 

17 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

ishment, had remained clean until this hour in 
the morning. 

" Well, we might just as well be quick 
about this," said the fairy, " for I must be 
back before the dew is off the grass. Those 
are my orders. It seems, Jasper, that you are 
in the habit of bottling insects and teasing and 
tormenting the creatures that live in the beau- 
tiful garden. Is this true? " 

Jasper hung his head, but did not reply. 

" I am sorry," said the beautiful creature, 
" just as sorry as I can be, but the Fairy 
Queen says because you persist in being so 
cruel you are to be changed into a helpless 
creature yourself, and you will live in the gar- 
den among the other children of nature until 
you are worthy of being a boy again and hav- 
ing all the privileges a boy should enjoy. 
You shall search for your food just as they 

18 



OF THE GARDEN 

do. You shall know their troubles and their 
cares, and you shall learn all about them, for 
you shall be one of them." 

" But my mother will not know where I 
am, and she will worry," said Jasper. 

" Has your mother's worry ever troubled 
you before? " asked the fairy. 

Jasper looked away, and in doing so no- 
ticed the screen door which was fastened from 
the outside. 

11 Oh, you are joking," he said, " for a little 
person like you cannot break the lock on that 
screen door. Why, it is as strong as strong 
can be." 

Then with her silver wand the little fairy 
messenger touched the lock which fastened 
the door, and to the boy's surprise the screen 
swung open and the garden was before him. 

Jasper was so astonished that he did not try 

19 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

to run away. He stood and stared at the 
wonderful little creature as she produced a 
tiny silver heart from the folds of her dress 
and placed it on the table by the door. 

" This," she said, " will tell your mother all 
she needs to know about you. Inside this tiny 
heart is a message for her." 

Then the silver wand touched Jasper's head 
and he was no longer a boy but a new kind of 
insect with six long legs, a green-and-white 
body, and wings with which he could fly 
among the creatures of the garden. The 
house seemed too small for him, so, fluttering 
his gauzy wings, he flew out through the door 
and into the garden where the springtime was 
in the air. 

When Sarah came in at noon to bring a 
tray of food, she found no little boy to eat 
the spice-cakes she had secretly prepared. 

20 



OF THE GARDEN 

Seeing the open door, she shook her head and 
said, " That boy is the worst I ever saw. He 
has opened that door again. I'll just leave 
this tray, for he will surely come back for a 
bite to eat." 

But when Jasper's mother returned in the 
late evening there was the untouched tray, the 
open door, the little half-formed village in the 
grate, and the tiny silver heart with its mes- 
sage. The message seemed to please her, for 
she smiled as she read these lines: 

" We have borrowed your little Jasper for 
a few weeks. We, the fairy folk, know a 
better remedy for his trouble than a locked 
door. When our mission is fulfilled, he will 
return to you a wiser and a better boy" 

As the dusk of evening came on, a joyous 

21 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

little insect with six supple legs and a green- 
and-white body, fitted with gauzy wings, sang 
out happily from its night's resting-place in 
the garden, "Happy-O! Happy-O! Cheer-O! 
Cheer-O! Cheer-O!" 










MillPSI 



22 




II 

JASPER MEETS MISS APIS 

nPHAT first night in the garden was a 
great revelation to Jasper. There were 
so many chirps and songs which he had never 
before heard. There were so many creatures 
fluttering about, getting settled for the night, 

23 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

creatures with which he was not acquainted, 
but whose legs and wings were much like his 
own. When Jasper became an insect, he did 
not lose the great curiosity which he possessed 
as a boy, therefore his last thought before fall- 
ing asleep was that when the morrow came he 
would make the acquaintance of some of these 
wonderful creatures. 

While he was thinking thus, his eyes closed 
in a deep, refreshing sleep and because of the 
dense shade of the lily plant under which he 
rested, it was quite light when he began to 
stir. Perhaps he would not then have awak- 
ened if it had not been for a low continuous 
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!" which came from the 
upper side of the lily leaf. 

Jasper hopped out of his cool bed and 
looked inquiringly up to where a bee was 
lightly poised. 

24 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Huh! " he exclaimed, " I wondered what 
that noise was, but I see now it is only a bee! " 

At this remark the bee seemed suddenly 
angered. " You look like an insect," she 
buzzed, " but you certainly talk like a human 
being." 

" I am an insect," said Jasper. " See my 
six legs, my wings, and my green-and-white 
body." 

" Yes, I know," said the bee, " but only a 
human being would call me a bee. In insect 
land I am known as Miss Apis." 

" Oh, I beg your pardon," said Jasper, " I 
have not long been an insect and I have much 
to learn, but I am anxious to know all about 
you and your friends who live in this beautiful 
garden, for I am to live here a long time, I 
believe, and I hope my mistake will not keep 
you from answering some questions for me." 

25 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" Not at all," said the bee. " The fairies 
have told us not to fear you. They called us 
all together last night and told us of your 
coming. I presume you are Jasper Bug, the 
new arrival? " 

" Yes/' said Jasper, secretly hoping that 
the fairies had not told the reason for his so- 
journ in the garden. 

" If you wish to ask questions," said the 
bee, " you must be quick about it, for I am 
very busy, and just now I am on my way to 
the clover field." 

"Busy!" exclaimed Jasper. 

' Yes," said the bee, " very, very busy. I 
live in that large hive over at the other end of 
the garden. There are many, many bees in 
the hive. First and greatest of all is the 
mother bee. We call her our queen. We 
love her as you love your mother and shield 

26 



OF THE GARDEN 

her from all harm. We do not allow her to 
work at all. That is, she does not gather wax 
and honey as we do. She stays at home in the 
hive and lays all the eggs from which the 
young bees come. Sometimes she lays as 
many as three thousand eggs in one day. Of 
course she does not lay as many eggs as 
that every day, but most queens lay as 
many as a hundred thousand eggs in one 



season." 



" My, she must be a wonder! " gasped Jas- 
per. " I should like to see her. But when I 
do see her, how can I tell her from a common 
bee like you? " 

At the words " common bee " the small 
buzzing insect gave a little shrug, but she was 
far too civil to pout over the insult, as some 
children would have done. 

" That will not be at all hard," said Miss 
27 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Apis, " but first I must show you that I am 
by no means common. I am really quite won- 
derful, both in the way I am made and in the 
work I do. My pride does not lead me to tell 
you so much about myself, but since you have 
asked me how you are to know the queen when 
you see her, it is very necessary for me to tell 
you something about myself so that you may 
know in what ways the queen is like me and in 
what ways she is different. 

" Before the fairies found it wise to change 
you into an insect, how many eyes did you 
have?" 

u Two," responded Jasper quickly; "just 
as I have now." 

" Well, if I had only two eyes I should not 
boast, but I have about twelve thousand, six 
hundred and three eyes." 

A doubtful look passed over Jasper's face, 

28 



OF THE GARDEN 

which brought forth a long, loud buzz from 
Miss Apis. 

" I can prove it," she said. " Do you see 
those two large eyes on the sides of my head? 
On top of my head, in the space between these 
two large eyes, are three small eyes. You 
cannot see all these eyes because of the fine 
hairs which grow over them." 

" But that is only five eyes," said Jasper, 
" two large ones and three small ones." 

" Quite true," said Miss Apis, " but each of 
my two large eyes is made up of about six 
thousand, three hundred very small ones. All 
these little eyes work together and act as one 
eye. I can see a long way off with these two 
wonderful eyes, and with my three small eyes 
I can see things close at hand." 

" Shut your eyes for just a minute and let 
me see how you look," said Jasper. 

29 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" I can't," replied Miss Apis, " for you see 
I haven't any eyelids. I have only eye hairs. 
These keep the dust and pollen from getting 
into my eyes." 

Just then the wise little Miss Apis darted 
off to a bright purple morning-glory and for 
a few minutes Jasper lost sight of her, for she 
seemed to tumble into the very bottom of the 
pretty little purple cup. 

" I wonder what she is doing in there? " 
thought Jasper. " I'll go and see." And 
spreading his gauzy wings, he flew straight to 
the morning-glory vine. But all he could see 
was the very tip end of Miss Apis's little 
brown body. Then all of a sudden — I am 
sure it was the work of the fairies — the purple 
morning-glory became transparent and Jas- 
per looked down into the very heart of the 
flower. 

30 



OF THE GARDEN 

What he saw made him exclaim, " What a 
tongue for such a little creature! " For pro- 
jecting from Miss Apis's mouth was a long, 
slender tongue that curled about, lapping up 
all the sweet, clear nectar from the nectar cup 
in the purple morning-glory. She did it so 
quickly, too, for in a minute she was poised on 
the swaying blossoms ready to begin her con- 
versation again. 

" But what have you done with that long 
brown tongue of yours? 55 questioned Jasper. 

" Put it away in its pocket until I need it 
again. It is a very wonderful tool, so I take 
good care of it and keep it put away when it is 
not in use." 

Then Miss Apis opened the sheath which 
covered her tongue and again Jasper saw the 
long, slender brown thread-like tongue as it 
wriggled out. 

31 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" You see," said Miss Apis, " I have two 
hard, bony sheaths; one covers the upper side 
of my tongue and the other covers the lower 
side. The lower sheath is made up of two 
long pieces which can be separated. These 
two long pieces usually lie close together and 
make a little trough in which the tongue can 
lie. The upper sheath is also made of two 
horny pieces which can be separated. These 
pieces overlap, so that they form a covering 
for the upper side of the tongue. So you see, 
this case keeps my tongue well protected. 

" Do you see these little rings of hairs 
around my tongue? These helped me to get 
the nectar from that purple morning-glory. 
They held the nectar fast and helped me to 
draw it up into my mouth through the tube 
made by my tongue-sheath. The tip of my 
tongue is like a little round plate. This helps 

32 



OF THE GARDEN 

me to lick up the honey. When my tongue is 
not in use I fold it back under my head, 

" Pardon me just a moment," said Miss 
Apis, " I wish to speak to that bumble-bee." 

Jasper followed her in her flight towards 
the bumble-bee as fast as he could, but she had 
reached him and finished her conversation be- 
fore he came up. 

" You must pardon me for leaving you so 
hastily," apologized Miss Apis, " but there is 
a flower at the other end of the garden which 
holds its nectar so deep in its cup that I can- 
not reach it. I wanted to ask Sir Bumble-bee 
if he would cut a hole in the flower with his 
horny tongue-sheath, which is larger and 
stronger than mine. By this time he has fin- 
ished, so suppose we go over, and I'll not need 
to visit the clover field to-day." 

It was some distance to the touch-me-not 

33 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

bed which Miss Apis wished to visit, so the 
flight afforded them a good time for conver- 
sation. 

" What do you do with all the nectar you 
get? " asked Jasper. " Do you swallow it? " 

" Yes," replied Miss Apis, " but when I 
swallow it, it passes into a little honey-sac. 
You will think this honey-sac quite as won- 
derful as my eyes and my tongue when I tell 
you that it is not quite so large as a sweet-pea 
seed and is so thin that it looks like a soap-bub- 
ble. It holds only one tiny drop of nectar. I 
take all the nectar I get in this honey-sac 
home for the baby bees to eat, but a little of the 
sweets that I get from the flowers passes on 
into my stomach and is digested. I also swal- 
low pollen and it passes into my honey-sac, 
too, but when you find the honey in the comb, 
you do not find pollen mixed with it. That 

34 



OF THE GARDEN 

is because my honey-sac is fitted with a very 
fine strainer. The pollen grains are gathered 
iip by the action of the muscles in the walls of 
the honey-sac and pass through the strainer 
into the stomach. As soon as the pollen 
grains have passed, the strainer closes so the 
nectar cannot pass." 

By this time they had reached the touch- 
me-not bed and Miss Apis's bright eyes 
singled out the flowers Sir Bumble-bee had 
cut. It took her but a short while to get the 
sweet nectar from them. 

" Now my honey-sac is quite full of nectar, 
so I must go to the hive and put it in the 
comb," she said as she left the flower. 

" But how do you get it from your honey- 
sac into the comb?" asked Jasper. 

" That is very easy," said Miss Apis. " I 
make the muscles of my honey-sac squeeze the 

35 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

honey into my mouth, and then I put it in the 
wax cells which the other bees have made. If 
you will come with me to the hive, I will give 
you a taste of the honey ." 

Jasper flew away with the bee and was sur- 
prised that instead of flying in a straight line 
she flew in a zigzag course to the hive. When 
he questioned her about this she said, " We 
bees are always cautious, for fear that larger 
insects and animals will catch us, so in order 
to deceive them regarding our course we fly 
in this manner." 

When they reached the hive, Miss Apis 
poured the honey she had gathered from her 
mouth into the wax cells in the comb. Other 
bees came and fanned it with their wings to dry 
it. Then the bees squeezed from their heads a 
few drops of a liquid which would help to keep 
the honey from spoiling. Miss Apis ex- 

36 



OF THE GARDEN 

plained that when the honey was preserved in 
this way it needed only a thin crust of wax on 
it to keep it safe for winter. 

Jasper had many more questions he wished 
to ask, but Miss Apis said in her politest tone, 
" I am sorry I shall have to bid you good-bye 
for to-day, but to-morrow I will meet you on 
the path which leads to the nasturtium bed 
and I will tell you more about the insects you 
are pleased to call ' common bees.' " 




37 



rW3M5OT^ 




ANOTHER DAY WITH MISS APIS 



HPHE next morning Jasper was out bright 
and early, for he had become very much 
interested in Miss Apis and wanted to hear 
more about her. When he met her on the 
path which led to the nasturtium bed, his first 

38 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

question was, " Well, what are you planning 
to do to-day? " 

" The first thing this morning," replied 
Miss Apis, " I shall gather pollen." 

"And pray, what do you do with pollen? " 
inquired Jasper. 

" I take it to the hive where the nurses mix 
it with honey and make bee-bread for the ba- 
bies." 

" But how do you carry it? You certainly 
cannot swallow pollen." 

" Of course not," said the bee. " I carry it 
in my pollen-baskets." 

"And where are your pollen-baskets?" 
asked Jasper, looking Miss Apis over very 
carefully. 

" That's so, I have not told you about my 
very wonderful legs, have I? " 

" No," said Jasper, " you told me of your 

39 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

eyes and your tongue, but not of your 
legs." 

" Well, you can easily see at a glance that 
I have six legs. All of these have sharp claws 
at the ends of them for clinging fast to things. 
I can walk and run, and at times I have even 
been known to jump. My claws are my tools. 
While boys and girls use hammers, saws, and 
such things, I use my claws. You have per- 
haps often wondered why I am able to walk 
on glass. If you will look closely at my feet, 
you will find a small pad on each one. This 
sticks fast to smooth surfaces and makes 
walking on glass easy for me. I use my claws 
for hooks and hang myself up by them when 
I so desire. 

" On my hind legs you will find my pollen- 
baskets," said Miss Apis as she held her legs 
for Jasper to see. 

40 



OF THE GARDEN 

Jasper looked carefully at the small bas- 
kets which Miss Apis pointed out. 

" You are wondering, I am sure, how I get 
the pollen into them. Even though it looks 
impossible, it is a very easy thing to do. If 
you could look at me under a magnifying- 
glass you would see that my body and the 
upper part of my legs are covered with long 
hairs. These hairs have little branches on 
them like feathers. I will gather the pollen 
from that large nasturtium, and you can see 
for yourself what an easy and pleasant task it 
is." 

With this Miss Apis flew to the nasturtium 
and, falling down into the blossom, wriggled 
all about in it, scraping out the pollen with 
her feet. When she came out, her whole body 
was covered with the fine golden dust. Then 
she began filling her baskets with pollen, and 

41 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

as she worked she explained to Jasper just 
how it was done. 

" I could not get this pollen into my baskets 
so easily if it were not for the brushes on the 
under side of my hind legs. On the fourth 
joint of each of my hind legs you will find a 
brush made of stiff hairs, and on the fifth 
joint you will find a brush made of sharp 
teeth. With the brushes on the right leg I 
scrape the pollen into the basket on the left 
leg, and with the brushes on the left leg I 
scrape the pollen into the basket on the right 
leg- 
All the time Miss Apis was talking she was 
busy filling her baskets with the yellow pow- 
der, and when she had finished speaking, both 
her pollen-baskets were full and she had a ball 
of pollen attached to each of her hind legs. 
" O dear! O dear! " sighed Miss Apis, " I 

42 



OF THE GARDEN 

feel so soiled. I must clean myself thoroughly 
before I go home, for it is one of the habits of 
my family to keep very clean." 

Then she lifted her middle legs and with the 
brushes attached to them she cleaned her vel- 
vet thorax until there was not a grain of dust 
left clinging to it. Then with the prong on 
the inside of her middle leg, at the bottom of 
the fourth joint, she preened her wings until 
they were free from all dust. She did not 
forget to comb her head, for on her forelegs 
are brushes for this. On her middle legs are 
brushes which she passes over her body. On 
her forelegs are kept her combs and brushes 
with which she cleans her antennae. 

Jasper thought the most interesting thing 
about the way Miss Apis made her toilet was 
the manner in which she cleaned her tongue. 
She grasped it firmly in both forefeet and 

43 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

gave it a thorough rubbing. She then drew 
down her wings, one at a time, and held them 
firmly against her side while she polished 
them with her brushes. After this she rubbed 
her legs together until they were perfectly 
clean. When this was done, she announced 
the fact that she must hasten home with her 
pollen. 

Jasper had by this time become so inter- 
ested that he did not wait for an invitation but 
went straight home with Miss Apis, never 
once asking, " If you please, may I accom- 
pany you? " The fact is, he wanted very 
much to see just how Miss Apis was going to 
get the pollen out of her baskets. 

When they reached the hive Miss Apis un- 
loosened a prong on her middle leg and pried 
the pollen out of the baskets. Jasper thought 
that after all it was a very easy thing to do, 

U 



OF THE GARDEN 

provided one had the tools and knew just how 
to use them. Then as Miss Apis hurried to an- 
other part of the hive, Jasper withdrew to the 
open air, as he was not quite sure he should be 
where he had not been invited. 

He lingered around outside the hive, how- 
ever, for he had just thought of several im- 
portant questions he wanted to ask his friend, 
and as the day was still not far advanced, he 
felt sure she would leave the hive again. He 
did not have long to wait, for soon Miss 
Apis buzzed out as if she were in a great 
hurry. 

"Wait! Wait!" cried Jasper. "Where 
are you going? " 

" I am going out to hunt for propolis," said 
the bee. 

" And pray, what is that? " questioned Jas- 
per. 

45 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" It is a sweet-scented, sticky substance 
which we get from the buds of plants. We 
use it to spread over the inside of our hives to 
stop up the cracks. But it is not for this pur- 
pose I am seeking it now. You know, of 
course, that we always keep sentinels at the 
door of our hive. While I was out gathering 
pollen the sentinels were not watching as 
closely as they should have been and a large 
snail came in. The bees made an attack on 
him, of course, but he drew himself into his 
shell and they could not get him. We cannot 
get him out, as he is far too large, so we must 
get a great deal of propolis and cement him 
tightly in his home so that he can cause us no 
more trouble." 

" Do you treat all your visitors in this 
way? " asked Jasper, remembering how he had 
gone unbidden into the hive. 

46 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Oh, no," said Miss Apis. " We kill only 
those who intend harm. Snails and moths 
come to steal our honey. The flies and worms 
steal our honey also, but these are so small 
that we kill them and then carry them out. 
We do not like bad odors in our hive, there- 
fore we prefer to take the dead bodies out- 
side." 

" Pardon me, Miss Apis," said Jasper, 
" but I have long wanted to know what those 
two long hair-like things are that stand out 
from your face." 

' Why, those are my antennae," said Miss 
Apis. " With them I hear and smell. If 
you look at them closely, you will see that they 
have a long joint next to the face and a num- 
ber of short joints which form a movable tip. 
This many- jointed end is the most important 
part, for it has thousands of small hearing- 

47 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

spots on it and thousands of small smell-hol- 
lows. The long joint is useful as an arm to 
move the short joints about. All over my 
antennae you will find short, sensitive hairs. 
These make it possible for me to tell what I 
am touching. 

" Here comes a bee whom I know very 
well. I wish to speak to her. I shall do this 
by means of my antennae. She is a member 
of my family, so we are friendly." 

Jasper watched the wise little bee as she 
halted in front of her friend. The two bees 
crossed antennae in a friendly manner. 
"How strange!" he thought. "They are 
very much like people after all, for when my 
mother meets a friend they shake hands in 
much the same way." 

" I have to be very careful of my antennae," 
said Miss Apis, as she flew up beside Jasper 

48 



OF THE GARDEN 

again. " They are very precious indeed, and 
should they become badly injured in any way, 
I should die. I feel something clinging to 
them now, so if you will wait just a few min- 
utes I will clean them carefully. 

" You see I keep a comb and brush for my 
.antennas on each front leg. You will find a 
little opening on each front leg just large 
enough for the antennae to fit into. All 
around this opening is a round comb made of 
tiny hairy teeth. Above this little opening is 
a small flap which comes down in front of the 
opening when I bend my leg. You see when 
I clean my antennae I raise my leg above my 
head and draw it down over one of my an- 
tennae. The antenna slips into the opening 
and when I bend my leg the flap holds the an- 
tenna in place. Then as I draw this precious 
organ through the little groove, the teeth and 

49 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

the sharp edge of the flap brush and clean off 
all the dirt and dust. 

" There now, my antennae are quite clean 
and we will fly on." 

" You remember, Miss Apis," said Jasper, 
as they stopped to gather the propolis, " that 
you told me you sometimes kill flies that come 
unbidden into your hive. May I ask how you 
kill them? " 

" Certainly," said the bee. " I sting them 
with my dagger. Most people call it my 
sting." 

" Where do you keep it? At your side as 
soldiers carry their swords?" 

" No, indeed," replied Miss Apis scorn- 
fully. " I keep it at the extreme tip of my 
abdomen. At the base of my sting there is a 
little sac of poison. The sting has three 
prongs. They are joined together, making a 

50 



OF THE GARDEN 

sort of tube through which the poison runs 
from the sac. Two of these prongs are 
barbed, and as they enter the flesh of the fly 
or anything else which we attack, first one 
prong and then the other works forward, the 
barbs of one prong holding it in place while 
the other prong is passed inward. This, you 
see, pumps the poison from the sac till the 
sting has been driven its full length into the 
flesh. Sometimes we make the mistake of 
driving our sting into the flesh so far that 
we cannot pull it out. This causes us to 
die. 

" Come now ! I have all the propolis I 
need. We will return to the hive." 

Away they flew, and when they reached the 
hive Jasper, remembering the fate of the snail 
and the flies, would have bade his companion 
good-bye, but on looking inside he saw such a 

51 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

queer sight that he lingered a moment to find 
out just what was happening. 

Hanging from the roof of the hive were a 
great number of bees. They were clinging 
tightly to the roof with their forelegs, and 
holding fast to the feet of these bees were 
others. It looked to Jasper as if there were 
hundreds of little swings attached to the hive. 

When Miss Apis had deposited her propolis 
and returned to Jasper's side, he asked her in 
a whisper what they were doing. 

"Why, they are making the wax in which 
we store our honey. Each of these bees which 
you see hanging there has eaten a hearty meal 
of honey. You must understand that they 
have not filled their honey-sacs with it as I 
did, but they have really swallowed it. After 
eating this honey, they all arrange themselves 
in the fashion you see. They will hang there 

52 



OF THE GARDEN 

very quietly for a long time. After a while 
little spots of wax will form in the pockets on 
the under side of their bodies. Then they will 
crawl down and with the nippers on their hind 
legs they will pull the wax out of their pock- 
ets. They will moisten this with saliva from 
their mouth and pull it out into white bands. 
From this they build the pretty six-sided cells 
in which we place our honey. It takes about 
nine or ten pounds of honey to make half a 
pound of honeycomb wax." 

" How wonderful!" exclaimed Jasper. 
" You are all very wonderful indeed, and to 
think I have always regarded you as just com- 
mon insects. I am so glad I have learned to 
know you better. Who is that big fellow at 
the other side of the hive? " 

" That," said Miss Apis, " is one of my 
many brothers. All our brothers are called 

53 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

drones because they never do any work in the 
hive." 

"What, the bee men do not work!" ex- 
claimed Jasper. He remembered how very 
anxious his father always was to shield his 
mother from hard work. 

" Well, it isn't really the drones' fault that 
they do not work," said Miss Apis, " for they 
have no honey-sac in which to put the honey if 
they were to gather it. They have no baskets 
in which to carry pollen and they have not the 
necessary tools with which to do the other 
work about the hive. They are so unaccus- 
tomed to doing any work that they do not 
even feed themselves, and they would die if we 
workers did not feed them. See, the drone of 
which you were just speaking is going to a 
worker to be fed ! " 

Jasper watched as the lazy drone put his 

54 



OF THE GARDEN 

tongue into his sister's mouth and took his 
dinner. 

"Well! Well!" said Jasper. "I never 
knew that before. Those lazy drones are very 
fortunate. They do not work, yet they get 
their living easily." 

" You are quite mistaken about their being 
fortunate," said the worker. " Things go 
very well with them while the warm summer 
days last, but when we workers feel the first 
chill of the autumn days we realize that we 
must have enough honey stored up in the hive 
for the queen bee and the workers to eat dur- 
ing the winter, so we have to drive the drones 
out of the hive. If they are at all stubborn 
about going, we sting them to death. They 
will live longer if they are obedient and leave 
the hive, but life is not at all pleasant for 
them outside the hive, for being unused 

55 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

to feeding themselves, they soon die of hun- 
ger." 

"It seems to me," said Jasper, "that- the 
queen bee is the only one in the hive who never 
has any trouble." 

" You are quite mistaken about that," said 
Miss Apis. " She is the mother of the hive, 
and while we all love her and guard her well, 
still she works very hard and has her own 
troubles. She is kept very busy laying eggs. 
Of course she does not gather honey or pollen, 
for she has no honey-sac and no pollen-bas- 
kets. She has a sting, but she very seldom 
uses it for stinging, for it is far more precious 
than a worker's sting. You see the queen 
bee's sting is her ovipositor or egg-placer. It 
is with this that she places her eggs just where 
she wants them. 

" The queen's sole work is to lay eggs. She 

56 



OF THE GARDEN 

does not take care of them after they are laid, 
neither does she care for the young bees. The 
workers do these things. In fact, the queen 
does not even feed herself. The workers pre- 
pare a special food for her, far better than 
that given to the other bees. When she is 
hungry she goes to a worker bee, puts her 
short tongue into its mouth and takes what 
she wants. She often eats honey from the 
comb, too. 

" But the greatest trial of all comes when 
the queen first learns that she has a rival in the 
hive. Her first knowledge of this is when she 
hears the low buzzing song of the new queen 
bees about to hatch. She seems to get very 
angry at the thought of a rival and, rushing to 
the cells, tries to kill the new queens. The 
workers all crowd around the cells and defend 
the queens which are about to hatch. Then 

57 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

the old queen decides to leave the hive. ' I 
will go away and form a new kingdom of my 
own/ she says. Many of the bees from the 
hive follow her. When the queen with her 
followers leave the hive the people call it 
' swarming.' 

" The bees that are left in the old hive are 
much excited until the new queen leaves the 
cell. When she first comes out she is very 
weak, but in a surprisingly short time the 
workers have fanned her dry and fed her until 
she is quite active. But if you want to see 
real excitement, wait until another queen 
hatches out. Two queens cannot live in the 
same hive, so the rival queens have a royal 
battle. If they grow tired of the fight, the 
workers make them keep on. After a while 
one of them stings the other in a very tender 
spot near the wing and kills her. 

58 



OF THE GARDEN 

"After this queen is dead, the queen that is 
the victor runs to the cells which contain other 
queens and kills all of them. Then she has 
undisputed sway in her kingdom. 

"After she has become accustomed to her 
new life she goes out of the hive for a little 
visit. Then she meets a drone who is her mate. 
He fills her pockets with pollen — not flower 
pollen — but bee pollen. This she brings back 
to the hive to help make her eggs. She never 
leaves the hive again until she swarms with 
her bees to find a new home." 

"All this is very wonderful," said Jasper. 
" But suppose in the battle royal both queens 
should be killed and there were no more baby 
queens in the cells, what would you do? " 

" Why, we would pick out a cell which con- 
tains a good healthy worker grub. We would 
tear down the walls of this cell very carefully 

59 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

and build them up again into round queen 
cells. We would then feed the grub with the 
food we feed queen grubs and when the time 
came for it to leave the cell it would come out 
a queen. 

" You must excuse me now. I must go on 
about my work inside the hive. But before I 
go I should like to introduce you to Miss For- 
mica. Now do not make the mistake of call- 
ing her an ant, or you may make her afraid of 

you." 

Jasper turned and saw a little red ant ap- 
proaching the hive. After a formal introduc- 
tion, he crawled away beside her to a cool, 
sheltered place under a petunia plant. The 
Jasper Bug could fly, crawl, jump, walk, and 
run at ease, so it was easy for him to accom- 
modate his movements to those of any of the 
insects. 

60 




IV 
THE MOST INDUSTRIOUS INSECT 

T HAVE just been talking to that very in- 
teresting insect, Miss Apis," said Jasper 
by way of beginning a conversation. 

' Yes," replied Miss Formica, " she is a 
cousin of mine." 

61 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

"A cousin of yours!" exclaimed Jasper. 
" Why, you do not look at all alike." 

" Perhaps we do not," said the ant, " but we 
belong to the same family — the hook-wing 
family." 

" Yes," assented Jasper, " the bee has beau- 
tiful wings, but you are not so fortunate. I 
never saw an ant w r ith wings." 

" Then I'll show you something you have 
never before seen. Just keep this in mind, 
and when the opportunity offers, I'll make 
you wise. But we must hurry along. I can- 
not loiter on my way. This is a great day at 
our house, and I must not be too late for all 
the wonderful things that are to happen. If 
you will come with me you, too, shall have the 
honor of being present at the great wedding 
of the ants." 

" The ants' wedding day ! " exclaimed Jas- 

62 



OF THE GARDEN 

per. But he did not have time to say more, 
for the little ant hurried on so fast that he had 
hard work to keep up with her. She did not 
even take time to carry on a conversation with 
her companion and merely remarked as they 
hurried on that the most beautiful day of sum- 
mer had come at last. 

After what seemed a long journey to Jas- 
per, they reached an ant-hill. He was well 
acquainted with these small mounds of dirt, 
for he had often leveled them with the ground 
just for the pleasure of seeing the tiny insects 
run hither and thither. 

As they came near the hill they could see 
that all the ants were rushing this way and 
that, and all seemed anxious and excited. 

u What is the matter with your people?" 
asked Jasper. 

"The wedding day! The great wedding 
63 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

day! " exclaimed Miss Formica. 'This is 
the day on which all our royal children whom 
we have tended so carefully are going to fly 
away on their wedding journey." 

Just as she finished speaking, a great crowd 
of winged ants flew out of the hill and circled 
joyously around and around in the bright sun- 
shine. The air was full of them. Away and 
away they flew. Up and up until they were 
lost from view. 

" Will they ever come back?" asked Jasper. 

" Wait and see/' said Miss Formica in such 
a teary voice that Jasper looked up quickly 
and saw that she looked very sad. 

" It makes me feel a little sad," she said, 
" to know that I can never have wings. But 
then," she added, brightening up, " I shall 
have a much longer life than some of those 
who fly to-day, and I have pleasant work to 

64 



OF THE GARDEN 

do. That reminds me that I must hurry, for 
I must go out and milk the cows so I can give 
milk to the ant babies in the nest." 

Away the little red ant darted and Jasper 
again found it hard to keep up. She crawled 
steadily along over grass and gravel until she 
came to a beautiful green rose-bush. Up the 
bush she went until she stopped among a 
great number of small green insects. 

" Why, those are plant lice," said Jasper. 
He was about to explain that he had often 
killed them by the hundreds on his mother's 
rose-bushes when Miss Formica looked at him 
keenly and said: 

" You talk like a human being, but you 
have six legs like an insect, so I guess I can 
trust you. These are our cows, and I am 
going to milk them, or rather I am going to 
milk as many as I can until I fill my maw." 

65 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Jasper observed that each of the cows had 
six legs and that at the end of each cow's body 
where the tail would have been, if it had pos- 
sessed one, were two little horns. 

Miss Formica tapped the cow very gently 
with her antennas. Jasper noticed that she 
was very careful to tap it at the base of the 
horns. Out from the horns came two little 
drops of milk. These she drank up quickly. 
She went from cow to cow until she had all the 
milk she desired for herself and had filled her 
maw for the ant babies. The cows did not 
seem to mind her taking the milk at all. In 
fact, they seemed to like being stroked and 
petted and were quite willing to give the ant 
milk in return for her caresses. 

" Now, back home to feed the babies," said 
Miss Formica as she scrambled down the 
rough, thorny branches of the rose-bush. 

66 



OF THE GARDEN 

Jasper had already seen so much that inter- 
ested him that he did not intend to lose sight 
of this newly made friend until he had learned 
more. 

When they reached the ant-hill Miss For- 
mica climbed nimbly up the side and started 
down the small opening at the top. Jasper 
followed her, but stopped when he encoun- 
tered a number of little white objects lying 
about. 

" Pray, what are these so near the roof of 
your house? " he asked. 

" These? 5 ' said Miss Formica. "Why, 
they are our most precious possessions, our 
ant babies. These rooms nearest the roof are 
what we call the tower rooms. The nurse 
ants bring our babies up to these rooms every 
bright day so that they can get the benefit of 
the sunshine. They were all well-fed before 

67 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

they were brought up. Perhaps while we are 
here I had better tell you the story of these 
babies from the very beginning. 

" Last spring our queen commenced to 
build this house. She flew out from her home 
on her wedding journey just as the princesses 
did that you saw to-day. While she was fly- 
ing about she met the prince who was to be her 
husband, but the poor fellow did not return to 
make a home. The princess flew about until 
she was weary. Then she realized that noth- 
ing was quite so important as laying eggs and 
rearing a family, so she settled here and 
worked away until she had one room finished. 
In this room she laid her eggs. There were a 
great number of eggs and they kept her very 
busy, indeed, for she had to lick each egg 
every day. The eggs puffed and swelled as 
the little lives within them grew larger and 

68 



OF THE GARDEN 

larger. Soon the shells burst and from each 
egg came a little ant baby. 

" The baby did not look at all like its 
mother. It was white and soft and looked 
far more like a worm than anything else. The 
queen ant was now busier than ever, for the 
ant babies had to be fed and taken care of each 
day. 

"In a short while threads grew from the 
mouths of the worm-like babies. They tan- 
gled themselves all up in these and rolled and 
twisted until they looked much like a spool of 
thread. In this state they are called pupse. 
These white bundles you see lying in the sun- 
shine of the tower rooms are pupae. 

" When the worm-like babies changed into 
pupse, the queen had to work harder than 
ever, for the pupse had to be taken out into 
the sunshine every day. I am sure the queen 

69 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

must have been very happy when the little 
lives inside the cases began to stir and the 
cases cracked, for from each case came a full- 
grown ant. 

"After this the queen had less to do, for she 
had many workers to aid her and she could 
give her attention to laying eggs." 

"How many queens do you have?" asked 
Jasper. " Miss Apis told me that the bees 
had only one queen in each hive." 

" Our queens are not like the queen bees in 
that respect. Sometimes several queen ants 
live in the same hill and they are always quite 
peaceful. 

" I must go now and feed my babies. Be 
careful how you travel, for it is very dark in- 
side." 

Jasper thought as he followed Miss For- 
mica through the ant-hill that he had never be- 

70 



OF THE GARDEN 

fore seen such tiny rooms and such winding 
halls. There were pantries in which food was 
stored, larger rooms in which a number of ants 
were gathered, and nurseries where the babies 
were twisting and wriggling. Miss Formica 
patted the babies with her mouth-threads and 
gave them milk which made them peaceful 
and quiet again. 

After she had finished feeding the babies, 
another ant came up to her and they touched 
mouth-threads. It seemed to Jasper that 
they must be talking, for they were very much 
interested in what was going on between 
them. 

They were certainly making plans, for Miss 
Formica turned to Jasper and said, " Would 
you like to accompany us? We are going 
hunting." 

" Indeed I should," exclaimed Jasper, for 

n 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

he was fond of all sport and marveled that 
even ants should enjoy this pastime. 

" May I ask what you are hunting? " asked 
Jasper when they had gone as far as the pansy 
bed. 

" That depends on what game is walking 
out to-day," said Miss Formica's companion. 

"Look out!" shrieked Miss Formica, and 
before Jasper could ask the question, " Look 
out for what? " a great shower of sand was 
falling all over him. But, lucky for him, he 
turned a complete somersault and landed on 
top of a purple pansy. 

When the sand settled and the air was clear 
again, he looked about for his companions. 
You may be sure that he was glad to see them 
under the sheltering petals of a brown pansy. 
The air seemed full of something which made 
Jasper desire to sneeze. Miss Formica and 

72 



OF THE GARDEN 

her friend rushed to him and stroked him 
gently with their mouth-threads and he felt 
better in a surprisingly short time. 

" What makes me feel so queer? " asked 
Jasper. 

" I dare say you got some of the ant acid 
which we spurted at that dreadful ant lion," 
said Miss Formica. 

" Ant acid, what is that? " asked Jasper. 

"Why, you have so much to learn! Ant 
acid is a substance which the ants send out 
from their bodies when they wish to defend 
themselves." 

" But the ant lion, who is he? " 

" The ant lion," answered Miss Formica, 
shuddering, " is a wicked creature, our most 
dangerous enemy. He digs holes in the sand 
and hides at the bottom of them. There he 
stays until he sees an ant approaching, then 

?3 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

he throws the sand up, and the flying sand 
forces the ant down into his den. It was a 
narrow escape for us all. But hurry, for 
there goes a yellow caterpillar. He will make 
splendid food for us if we can only capture 
him. 

" I will attack him, and at a signal from me 
you must come and help," suggested Miss 
Formica to her companion ant. 

Without waiting for her friend to answer, 
Miss Formica crept stealthily up to the cater- 
pillar and seized him quickly. He gave a 
rapid jerk and freed himself, but the ant was 
too swift for him. After a little tussle the 
caterpillar lay quite still and Miss Formica 
called to her companion to come and help 
drag him home. 

Jasper thought it very odd that Miss For- 
mica should grasp the caterpillar with her 

74 



OF THE GARDEN 

strong jaws and travel backwards. She soon 
tired and her companion took her place while 
she crawled on at the side. 

On their way home they passed under a 
pear-tree, and 'then what a feast they had 
from the juicy fruit which had fallen from the 
tree. 

As they approached the ant-hill they could 
see that all was commotion there. The ants 
were running hither and thither, and as Miss 
Formica and her companions came nearer 
they discovered that the ant-hill had been en- 
tirely destroyed. 

"What has happened?" inquired Miss 
Formica of an ant who was hurrying to a 
place of safety with an ant baby. 

" Some careless human being has done it," 
said the ant, putting down her burden as she 
made the explanation. " It was a man. He 

75 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

carried a stick. I have often seen the men 
walk with sticks. They call them canes. He 
sat down on a bench near our house and delib- 
erately tore our dwelling to pieces. We have 
saved most of the babies and the queens. 
Many workers were killed. We are going to 
bury them now as soon as we have the babies 
in a safe place." 

" O dear! O dear! " sighed Miss Formica. 
" That means long, hard days for us, for now 
a new house must be built. We must put this 
caterpillar in a safe place and help with the 
work/' 

Soon the two ants were working hard. 
They moved clods of dirt which had impris- 
oned worker ants. They carried the poor 
wounded ants away on their backs to safe 
places. They licked the bruises of the 
wounded, for this is the best medicine the ant 

76 



OF THE GARDEN 

can give. It is far better for ants than any 
salve would be. 

The ants did not waste any time. They 
began to drag away the tiny sticks of which 
the interior walls were made and to build new 
passages and rooms. 

Jasper was quite bewildered by all the trou- 
ble and confusion, and although he would 
have been glad to help, there seemed little that 
he could do, for every time he made an at- 
tempt he seemed to get in the ants' way. 
While he was standing idly by, wishing that 
he could do something for the poor creatures, 
he heard a low moan near a loosened turf of 
grass. He ran quickly to Miss Formica and 
said, "Come, come, Miss Formica! Some 
member of your family is in great distress. I 
hear them moaning. They seem to be caught 
under that turf of grass." 

77 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Miss Formica dropped the stick with which 
she was struggling and hastened to the scene 
of the trouble. There, pinned down under a 
tuft of grass, was one of the ant queens. Jas- 
per knew as soon as he saw her that she was 
different from the other ants, for she was 
much larger and much more handsome. 

Miss Formica began her work at once. 
With her teeth and legs she worked at the 
grass roots until she had loosened the dirt. 
The poor queen was soon free. But even 
when the poor bruised queen was released she 
could not walk, so Miss Formica took her on 
her back and Jasper cleared the way before 
them so that they soon reached a safe place. 

When the ants saw their queen they flocked 
to her and soon they were surrounded by a 
joyous crowd. Some of the ants lifted the 
queen from Miss Formica's back. The others 

78 



OF THE GARDEN 

gave her food and stroked and rubbed her 
gently with their mouth- threads. 

Jasper now saw that he could be of great 
service to the ants, so he set to work and 
helped them build their home. It took many, 
many days to have all in order again, but in a 
surprisingly short time the new home was 
completed. 

One morning soon after the ants were set- 
tled, Jasper awoke to find the nest in great 
confusion. The gates were open and the ants, 
although in perfect order, were greatly ex- 
cited. 

Jasper found that the red ants had decided 
to raid the ant-hill which was inhabited by the 
black ants. This ant-hill was over by the lily 
bed. 

" Why do you want to make a raid on this 
ant-hill? " asked Jasper. 

79 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" Because/' explained the red ant who was 
questioned, " we want to secure some slaves. 
There are not nearly so many workers in the 
hill as we need. We shall bring into our 
hill all the pupae and larvae we can find 
in the hill of the black ants, and when 
these hatch out there will be many, many 
slaves." 

"But why not take the full-grown ants?" 
asked Jasper. " They will be able to work at 
once, and you will not have all the trouble of 
caring for the pupae and the larvae." 

" It would be hard to make the full-grown 
ants learn to work in a strange place, but with 
the little ones hatched right here in the nest, 
there will be little trouble." 

" Will you go on this raid? " asked 
Jasper. 

" Oh, yes," replied the ant, " I am to go to 

80 



OF THE GARDEN 

help carry home the captured ants. You are 
to stay at home and help get the rooms ready 
for the new arrivals." 

" Indeed, I shall not!" said Jasper, his old 
independence asserting itself. " I shall go, 
too, and see the raid." 

"Be careful! Be careful!" said the ant, 
stretching out her antennas. " The ants may 
turn on you." 

But Jasper sought out his old friend, Miss 
Formica, and told her of his desires. 

" I certainly would not advise you to go," 
said Miss Formica, " but if you will go in 
spite of my suggestion, you must keep well 
back from the line of march and you must not 
get in the way." 

It was early in the afternoon before the 
ants were ready to start. Jasper kept close 
enough to see all that happened, but far 

81 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

enough away not to arouse any special atten- 
tion. 

It was a long journey to the lily bed, but 
they at length arrived at the ant-hill where the 
black ants lived. There seemed to be thou- 
sands and thousands of little black insects and 
they were very brave. Some of them guarded 
the doors to the nest and some were stationed 
farther out, while still others stayed down in 
the nest. But the red ants were far stronger 
than the black ones. When a black ant made 
special resistance, a red ant would seize him in 
her strong jaws. After getting a good grip 
on the neck it was short work to kill the ant. 

It was not long before all the black ants 
had either been killed or had retired to the 
lower rooms. Then the red ants broke into 
the chambers where the larvae and the pupse 
were kept. Soon the whole great army was 

82 



OF THE GARDEN 

on their way back home burdened with the lit- 
tle sleeping bundles which would soon awake 
to a life of slavery. 

Jasper would doubtless have stayed longer 
in the ant-hill and watched the little black ants 
come out of their cases and assume their bur- 
dens, had it not been that one day as he was 
sitting out in the bright sunshine sunning 
himself he fell asleep and was awakened by an 
earthworm. He became so much interested 
in her that he accepted an invitation to visit 
her home. 




83 




JASPER MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE 
OF THE LITTLE PLOUGH 

TASPER had seen earthworms more times 
than he had fingers and toes. In fact, 
he had baited his fish-hook with them number- 
less times. But somehow this earthworm 
looked different when viewed through Jas- 

84 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

per's insect eyes from any he had seen as a 
child. 

His introduction to the earthworm came 
about in this way. Jasper was indulging in 
a quiet nap. He selected a sunny spot over 
by the grape-vine and was so comfortable that 
the sun was going down before he awoke. He 
doubtless would not have done so then if he 
had not felt something cool and damp on his 
face. It was quite enough to make him awake 
with a start. 

"And who are you?" he questioned as he 
saw a long brown worm crawling close beside 
him. 

The earthworm, as you doubtless know, has 
no eyes, so it is little wonder that she asked, 
"And who are you? " 

"Why, I'm, I'm " stammered Jasper 

scarcely knowing what to say. " I'm the bees' 

85 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

and the ants' friend. I live here in the gar- 
den." 

" Well, I am an earthworm," answered the 
brown worm, " and I have lost my way to my 
home, so I dare say I shall have to burrow 
down and make another home." 

" How did you happen to lose your way? " 
asked Jasper. 

" You see," slowly responded the earth- 
worm, " we had a fine rain this morning and 
all earthworms like to crawl about after a 
shower. It was so damp and cool when I 
started that I went farther than I had ex- 
pected to go, and, although I feel certain that 
my home is near the lily bed, still I cannot 
find it. I am going over near that fern bed 
and get down into the ground as soon as I 
can." 

" May I go with you? " asked Jasper. " I 

86 



OF THE GARDEN 

helped the ants build their home and perhaps 
I can help you." 

" You help me! " exclaimed the earthworm. 
" Can you eat dirt? " 

" Eat dirt! " exclaimed Jasper. " Of 
course not." 

" Well then you cannot help me, but you 
may watch me/ 5 said the earthworm as she 
crawled away. 

Jasper found it hard to accommodate his 
movements to those of the worm. It had 
been easy for him to fly with the bee and to 
crawl rapidly with the ant, but such slow 
movements as the earthworm made were quite 
beyond him. So he decided that he would 
wait until the earthworm had gained a few 
feet and then move along slowly and catch up. 

As Jasper sat and watched the earthworm 
travel, he could not help but exclaim, " How 

87 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

do you walk, anyway? You haven't any 
legs." 

" But I have something far better for my 
long, slender body than legs. I have very 
fine hooks beginning at the fourth ring behind 
my head and ending at my tail. These aid 
me in traveling. See! I push the front 
hooks into the ground; then I draw my body 
up, thick and short. When I cannot get it up 
any shorter I fasten the hooks nearest my tail 
into the ground and unfasten the front 
hooks. Then I make my body as long as 
I can and see — I have walked quite a full 
inch." 

" How many hooks have you?" questioned 
Jasper, much interested in his new friend. 

" Oh, I do not know," replied the earth- 
worm in an irritable manner. " I cannot 
count, but my body is made up of about one 

88 



OF THE GARDEN 

hundred and fifty rings and on each ring there 
are two hooks." 

"My! My!" exclaimed Jasper, who was 
very quick in arithmetic, " Three hundred 
feet! You certainly ought to go faster than 
you do with all those legs." 

" Well, I may not go very fast," said the 
earthworm, " but these feet help me to do 
other things besides walking. With them I 
can dig my way into the ground. I can also 
hold fast by my hind hooks when a bird tries 
to get me out of my hole for a tempting break- 
fast. 

" But here we are now at the edge of the 
fern bed. I shall dig my burrow right here 
where the earth is damp and soft. Before I 
begin digging I want you to look closely at me 
and see how pale and clear my skin is. You 
can see the red blood running in my two long 

89 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

veins. One vein runs down my back and the 
other runs along the under side of my body. 
I have to get out into the air now and then in 
order to keep the blood in my body supplied 
with fresh air." 

" But you do not seem to breathe as I do," 
said Jasper, " so how does the air get into 
your blood? " 

" Foolish creature! " sighed the earthworm. 
" Do you not know that I have in my body 
tiny holes like pin pricks? Through these 
holes the air reaches my blood and keeps it red 
and pure. Now I am going to begin to dig, 
so do not ask me any foolish questions after I 
get under the ground, for I cannot answer you 
until I come to the top again." 

Jasper wanted very much to ask another 
question when he saw the earthworm dig away 
with her forward hooks ,and swallow the dirt as 

90 



OF THE GARDEN 

she loosened it, but he remembered the worm's 
caution and kept quiet until the brown-skinned 
creature came wriggling to the surface again. 

Jasper was much surprised to see her de- 
posit a long roll of fine dirt on the ground 
when she came to the top. 

" So you really swallowed that dirt? " he 
exclaimed. " Is it good to eat?" 

" It is not so good to eat as it is good to get 
it out of my way," replied the earthworm. 
" You see I do not want all this dirt banked 
up inside my home, so I make myself into a 
basket, and after I plough up the dirt I bring 
it to the surface and dump it out as worm 
cast. But really, I am quite hungry. I 
think I shall go over to the onion bed and nib- 
ble a bite or two." 

Away crept the worm in the direction of the 
onion bed and away crawled Jasper after her. 

91 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" I see that you have a mouth and two lips," 
said Jasper as they ambled along, " but have 
you any teeth? " 

" There you go again, asking foolish ques- 
tions," said the worm. " How would my food 
be chewed if I did not have teeth? " 

" That was just what I was thinking," said 
Jasper, " but I have always heard that worms 
did not have teeth. You see, I have looked 
you over quite often, for I have often used 
you for ba " 

The worm gave a sudden jerk, but Jasper, 
realizing his mistake, said, " I have looked you 
over quite often, but I have never been able to 
decide about the teeth." 

" Well, you see," said the earthworm, " we 
really haven't teeth, but we have two bags 
containing lime and tiny bits of stone no 
larger than grains of sand. These aid us in 

92 



OF THE GARDEN 

chewing our food and act as teeth in grinding 
up the particles of food." 

They went on without speaking again until 
they reached the onion bed. There the worm 
nibbled away at an onion until Jasper feared 
it would burst, but its skin seemed to stretch 
like rubber and to hold a great deal of food. 
As the earthworm took food into its mouth, 
Jasper noticed that the rings of its body be- 
gan to move out and in. They looked as if 
they were opening and shutting. The motion 
seemed to pass the food down into the worm's 
body. 

By the time the earthworm had finished her 
supper of onions, Jasper was so sleepy that he 
could scarcely hold his eyes open. He did go 
to sleep while she was taking her last bite and 
when he awoke some minutes later, his com- 
panion was nowhere to be found. Jasper was 

93 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

too weary to worry over this, but the next 
morning he felt rather lonely and longed for 
his new friend. Although he searched and 
searched around the fern bed, he could not 
even find the opening to the burrow the worm 
had dug. 

It was several days before Jasper met his 
new friend again. In fact, he had decided 
that he should never be able to find her again, 
when he saw a little twig stir that stuck in the 
ground by the fern bed, and there, pushing 
the twig out of her way from the mouth of the 
hole, was Miss Earthworm as plump and as 
round as she could be. 

" I have looked everywhere for the door to 
your house," said Jasper, " and I did not 
know that I was sitting right on your very 
doorstep." 

" You could not find the front door to my 

94 



OF THE GARDEN 

house," said the earthworm, " because I had 
closed it. You see, some of my enemies might 
see that hole and come to visit me, so I just 
drag in a stem after me and they never sus- 
pect that such a tempting thing as an earth- 
worm resides there." 

" I should like to see your house," said Jas- 
per. " Who lives with you? " 

"Who lives with me? Why, I live all 
alone. Earthworms do not live together. 
Each one has a home to herself." 

" How different from the bees and the 
ants! " exclaimed Jasper. 

" I'd like very much for you to see my 
home. I am quite proud of it, but you are so 
large that you could not easily get in without 
breaking my walls, but I'll tell you something 
about it. 

" It is made up of many long halls. I get 
95 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

a kind of glue from my body with which I 
plaster the walls of my house so that the dirt 
is very firm. When my body rubs against the 
walls they will not crumble, but your body is 
very different. Why, those legs of yours 
would be sure to punch holes in my walls." 

" You spoke of your enemies coming into 
your house if you did not close your doors. 
Who are your enemies? " 

" The birds are our enemies. They see our 
open doors and wait outside until we poke our 
heads out. Then they snap us up as quickly 
as possible. If it were not for our hooks, we 
worms would feed more birds than we do. 
But our worst enemy is the mole. He does 
not come in through our front door. He 
comes up the back way, or in by the side door. 
The mole, you know, lives underground as we 
do. But he is larger than we are, and there- 

96 



OF THE GARDEN 

fore makes quite a little stir as he digs away to 
get at us. When we feel the earth shaking 
around us, we know that it is time to take a 
walk, and up we come into the open air." 

" Where is your mother? " asked Jasper, 
feeling sorry for the little worm who was so 
alone in the big, unkind world. 

" Mother? " said the worm. " Oh, you 
mean the worm that laid the egg from which I 
came? " 

" Yes," said Jasper. 

" I do not know," said the earthworm. " I 
never saw her." 

" Why, who took care of the pupse and 
larvae before you and your brothers and sisters 
became worms?" 

The earthworm looked so puzzled that Jas- 
per explained how the ants and the bees take 
care of their babies. 

97 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" Oh, we do not have all that foolishness," 
said the earthworm. " My mother laid her 
eggs near a cabbage bed so that we could find 
some of our favorite food near at hand when 
we came out of the shell. I knew just as 
much as my mother did when I was first born, 
so I did not need her to teach me anything. I 
was not so large then as I am now, for I did 
not have as many rings. I have been adding 
new rings all the time, and so growing more 
and more." 

" How do you get new rings? " asked Jas- 
per. 

" Why, the last ring divides and I then 
have two where the last one was instead of 
only one." 

" Do you know what you are? " said Jas- 
per. " You are a little plough, for you 
plough your way through the earth." 

98 



OF THE GARDEN 

" I do not know what you mean," said the 
earthworm, " but I do know that I must be 
going, for I must start to-night to dig my 
house deeper, so I shall not see you again for 
a long time/' 

Jasper was about to remonstrate at being so 
rudely dismissed, when the little worm wrig- 
gled into her home and was gone. 




99 




THE MOTHER OF A MILLION BABIES 

JASPER found so much in the garden to 

interest him that he did not have time to 

get lonely. He slept at night under the 

broad leaves of the lily, and all the long day he 

was busy talking to his newly made friends 

100 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

or watching the insects and animals whose 
acquaintance he had not yet made. 

One bright morning Jasper awoke later 
than usual. The sun was quite high in the 
sky when he suddenly awoke realizing that 
something was looking steadily at him, and 
sure enough, when he opened his eyes, there 
was a large house fly staring at him. 

"Humph!" said the fly, "I was just 
trying to decide whether you were dead or 
alive." 

" Why does that matter to you? " said 
Jasper, who was not in a very good humor 
because of his sudden awakening. 

"All the difference in the world," said the 
amiable fly. " Had you been dead, I feel sure 
that you would have made a very good meal 
for me. Alive, you are of no service what- 



ever." 



101 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

By this time Jasper had looked at the fly 
long enough to be much attracted by her 
bright eyes, which looked as if they had been 
varnished. 

" You certainly have two very bright eyes," 
said Jasper. 

" Two bright eyes ! " laughed the fly. 
"Two bright eyes are all you can see? Why, 
you are as blind as a bat, for I have over four 
thousand eyes." 

" Four thousand! " exclaimed Jasper. 

" Yes indeed," said the fly. " You perhaps 
have noticed only the two large eyes, one on 
each side of my head. These two large eyes 
are made up of about four thousand small 
eyes. Between my two large eyes I have 
three little single eyes. So you can imagine 
how very well I can see." 

" I do not see why you were given so many 
102 



OF THE GARDEN 

eyes," said Jasper. " You do not do any good 
in the world." 

" Why, you talk very much like a human 
being/' said the fly, " but I see that you are 
an insect, therefore I am safe in talking to 
you. You think that I do not do any good 
in the world. Just let me tell you. Before 
the summer is over I shall bring into the world 
more than a million flies." 

" Are you the mother of a million babies? " 
asked Jasper. 

" The mother, the grandmother, the great- 
grandmother, the great-great-grandmother, 
the great-great-great " 

" Stop! Stop! " shrieked Jasper. " You 
make me dizzy." 

" You see, it is this way," said the fly. 
" About an hour ago I laid nearly one hun- 
dred and twenty tiny, chalky, white eggs in 

103 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

the soft, damp dirt in the horse's stall in the 
barn." 

" Why did you choose such a loathsome 
place to lay your eggs? " asked Jasper, think- 
ing of the dainty cribs in which he had seen 
little babies cradled. 

" Because," said the fly, " I want my babies 
to find some food they like as soon as they 
leave the egg. Baby flies like nothing better 
than damp, decaying manure for their first 
breakfast. By this time to-morrow a tiny 
white worm will come from each of these eggs. 
These worms are called grubs. They eat the 
decaying particles and grow fat on them. I 
know where you can see some of these grubs 
or maggots as some people call them. Can 
you fly with me to the barn? " 

" Oh, yes," said Jasper, who was now feel- 
ing quite awake. 

104 



OF THE GARDEN 

So away they flew and soon settled just in- 
side the barn door. Jasper was surprised at 
the sights the fly pointed out to him. First 
she showed him her own tiny white eggs. 
Then she pointed out a squirming mass of lit- 
tle white worms among the decaying heap. 
They were all wriggling and eating and 
seemed to be quite happy and contented. 

" My, how they eat!" exclaimed Jasper. 

" Yes, they eat so much that in a little while 
their bodies will prove too large for their 
skins. The skin will then crack open and each 
little fly will come out of his own skin dressed 
in a new coat. Then he will eat away as fast 
as ever and will change his skin only one more 
time. After three or four days of excessive 
eating, the grub will begin to feel very sleepy. 
Then he will crawl off to a sheltered place un- 
der a leaf or a straw and go to sleep. Over 

105 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

on this side I will show you some that are 
sleeping." 

The fly led the way to the side of the stall 
and showed Jasper some small brown objects 
lying under drier dirt than that in which the 
grubs had been seen wriggling. 

"Inside that brown case the little grub is 
getting eyes, wings, a mouth, legs, and a tube 
which he will use for getting his food," said 
the fly. 

" Over here are some just coming out of 
the case. We will watch them." 

Jasper looked closely. The little brown 
shells were moving. Something inside of the 
case was hammering away at the shell. 
"Crack! Crack!" went the case. "Split! 
Split!" and out came a fly. The sun was 
shining through a crack in the barn right on 
the little fly. It shook itself, for it was very 

106 



OF THE GARDEN 

cold and weak and the sunshine felt good. In 
a few minutes the fly was strong and gay. It 
spread out its wings and flew away from 
the barn, for its appetite now called for 
something more inviting than its former 
food. 

" Excuse me a moment," said Jasper's 
companion. " I wish to examine more closely 
something on the ceiling." 

Away she flew and, alighting on the ceiling, 
walked along as quickly as if she were not 
walking " upside down." It did not take her 
long to examine what she desired, for in a few 
minutes she was back by Jasper's side. 

" I should like to know how you do that? " 
said Jasper. 

" Do what? " questioned the fly. 

" Walk upside down on the ceiling." 

"Why, that is easy enough," said the fly. 
107 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" If your feet were made like mine you could 
do it, too. You see, I have six legs. Each of 
my legs has five joints. Each foot also has 
five joints. On the last joint of each foot are 
two claws and a little pad. On the claws and 
pads are many little fine hairs. These little 
hairs catch on and hold to little rough edges 
and I walk with ease upside down." 

" But," said Jasper, " I have seen flies walk 
on glass, and there are no rough edges on 
that." 

" I was going to tell you about that," said 
the fly, " but you did not give me time. The 
pads and the hairs act as a sucker. They suck 
the air from under the foot and there is no 
danger of my slipping on the glass. If you 
had feet like mine you could walk on ice with 
ease." 

" Well, suppose we move away from here," 
108 



OF THE GARDEN 

said Jasper, " I am not a grub and I do not 
like this place." 

" Very well," said the fly. " Suppose we 
go over to the pansy bed and talk. Let us go 
by way of the pear-tree, for I feel as if I 
should relish the taste of a nice juicy pear." 

Jasper was surprised when they reached the 
pear-tree to see the fly produce a long slim 
tube and stick it into a soft pear. She seemed 
to enjoy the taste, for she stayed on the pear 
quite a while, and when she was again by Jas- 
per's side he could not see the tube at all. 

" I hate to be so inquisitive," said Jasper, 
" but what did you do with that tube? " 

" Shut it up like a telescope to keep it safe," 
said the fly. "See!" and she produced it 
again. 

' Why, it looks like a long lip," said Jas- 
per. 

109 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" So it is," said the fly. " Do you see that 
little flat plate at the end of the tube, and do 
you see those two sharp hairs close beside it? 
When I want the sweet juice from a pear or 
an apple I stick these hairs into it and make it 
soft so I can easily suck the juice up through 
the tube." 

" You dirty thing! " exclaimed Jasper sud- 
denly remembering where the fly had taken 
her last meal before feasting on the pear. 
" You did not clean either your feet or your 
hairs and you have been walking in that 
dreadful barn and eating the refuse there, 
too." 

" What does that matter? " said the fly. 

" Why, some child may pick up the pear 
and eat the dirt that you have left." 

" It is quite true that I often make people 
sick in just that way," said the fly, " but I 

110 



OF THE GARDEN 

cannot worry about that. People will have 
to look out for themselves." 

" I am quite willing to admit/' said Jasper, 
" that you are wonderful, but you are so un- 
tidy." 

" By the way," said the fly, seeming to ig- 
nore the last remark, " there is one clever 
thing that I can do which you have not no- 
ticed. Watch me! " 

The fly flew forward a short distance, 
halted in mid-air and balanced gracefully on 
the wing. 

" How do you do that? " asked Jasper. 

" I'll tell you," said the fly. " Near my last 
pair of legs are two little clubs covered with 
fine hairs. They help me to balance on the 
wing or halt in mid-air. You see, they take 
the place of the second pair of wings which 
some insects have. 

Ill 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

"Look out!" shrieked the fly. "Didn't 
you see that spider? Why, I am so weak that 
I can scarcely fly. Suppose we rest a while. 
I detest spiders. That old fellow thought he 
had me then, and I thought so, too. I have to 
watch very carefully, for spiders as well as 
birds, cats, and dogs will snap me up in a min- 
ute. People, too, try to kill flies, but we have 
many ways of deceiving them. When they 
try to brush us out of the house, we hide in 
cracks and holes, behind pans, and in many 
other places. If they find us and brush us 
down, we ' play dead.' That is, we fall over 
and lie very still. After they get out of sight 
we stretch our limbs and fly away. I feel 
much stronger now. Suppose we fly on." 

Soon they were at the pansy bed and Jas- 
per crept under a large yellow pansy and 
rested, for the sun was getting high and it was 

112 



OF THE GARDEN 

very warm. The fly lighted on a small piece 
of cake which some child had dropped, and 
feasted again. When she had satisfied her 
hunger, she came over to Jasper and said, 
" You seem to have a bad opinion of me, but 
for my own sake and for the sake of my little 
grubs that are hatching down in the barn, I 
must tell you something." 

"It is about time you were looking after 
your babies," interrupted Jasper. 

" Looking after my babies ! " said Madam 
Fly. " Why, I have already looked after 
them. I laid my eggs where the grubs could 
get all they wanted to eat. Then my duty 
ended." 

" Do you mean you will not see them 
again?" asked Jasper. 

" I may run across them some day after 
they begin to fly about, but I should not know 

113 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

them if I did. It will not be very long before 
I shall be a great-grandmother, for my babies 
will hatch, turn to pupae, then to flies. These 
flies will in turn lay eggs and by the time the 
autumn comes, I shall have been the cause of 
bringing more than a million flies into the 
world. It is for the sake of all these flies that 
I want to tell you that we do some good in the 
world as well as some harm. We help a great 
deal in keeping the world clean. We eat de- 
caying flesh, thus keeping it from polluting the 
air. We also eat small germs which would 
harm people should they get them in their 
lungs. 

" I have a great many cousins who cause 
more trouble than I do. I have one cousin 
who is known as a ' gall fly/ She lays her 
eggs in the twigs of trees. Over these eggs 
galls grow. These galls injure trees and 

114 



OF THE GARDEN 

often kill them. I have another cousin called 
the ■ bot fly.' She lays her eggs on the horses. 
These eggs cause the skin of the horse to itch. 
In order to scratch the itching place, the horse 
licks it. In this way he gets the eggs into his 
mouth and then into his stomach. These eggs 
sometimes hatch in his stomach and the grubs 
eat holes in the thin membrane which line it. 
So you see a great many of my cousins are 
much worse than I am, but I am sure that 
none of them could have a much harder time 
than I do, for a common house fly has a very, 
very hard time, but so do all creatures and all 
people who do more harm than they do good." 
After making this wise remark, the fly 
looked so knowingly at Jasper with her four 
thousand eyes that he felt sure that she must 
know that he was once Jasper Nichols, the 
small boy who had taken real delight in pull- 

115 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

ing the wings from flies. But before Jasper 
could find out whether or not this were true, 
the fly flew away and left him alone in the 
pansy bed. 





JAt 




_iS^ 










4 


Wirt'' ffif 




""Ipfi 


mm? ,d/mi 




^ - . ~ THSc 


















Head of Fly 




• 


*5/Gfe Vieuf 





116 




^"3HP! 



JASPER SPENDS THE DAY WITH 

MR. RANA, THE MOST RENOWNED 

JUMPER IN THE WORLD 

T \ 7 HEN left alone without agreeable com- 
pany Jasper suddenly realized that the 
pansy bed was a very dull place. There were 
neither bees nor ants near. In fact, all his 

117 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

friends seemed to have deserted him. The fly- 
had just flown away with some parting words 
which had caused Jasper to recall some un- 
pleasant memories. He had not seen the 
earthworm nor any of her kinsfolk since she had 
so suddenly left him in the garden. 

Soon Jasper realized that he was very un- 
comfortable. The sun was shining directly 
over the pansy bed, which made it very warm. 

" I think I'll go down to the pond," he said 
to himself, " and get cooled off." 

Jasper had always been one to act quickly, 
so immediately he fluttered his wings and flew 
in the direction of the pond. There he found 
it cool and pleasant. He did not feel like ex- 
erting himself, so he crawled up on what he 
thought was a decayed part of an old log. It 
was not long, however, before he realized that 
the supposed piece of a log was very much 

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OF THE GARDEN 

alive, indeed, for it gave such a leap into the 
air that Jasper would have been thrown off 
and knocked senseless, had he not clung on 
with all his might. When, at last, all was 
quiet again, Jasper decided that he would 
make short work of getting off this queer 
train and examining it. So down he jumped 
and found that instead of a piece of a log, he 
had been perched on a queer creature with two 
great bulging eyes, which stared at him so 
steadily that they seemed to look holes in him. 

" You are certainly by no means a piece of 
wood," said Jasper. " Who are you, any- 
way?" 

The creature winked and blinked, but said 
nothing. 

" You are no kin to the bee or the ant or 
the earthworm or the fly," said Jasper, " so 
who can you be?" 

119 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Then the creature opened his mouth, and 
such a mouth Jasper had never seen before. 
" I am Mr. Rana, the most renowned jumper 
in the world/' he replied. 

" Where do you live? " asked Jasper. 

"Where do I live?" echoed Mr. Rana.. 
" Well, I have both a winter home and a sum- 
mer home. My winter home is under the 
water in the thick, warm mud; while my sum- 
mer home is anywhere near this pond I choose 
to go. Now that I have answered your ques- 
tions, perhaps you will permit me to ask you 
one. Who are you? " 

" Why — I am — I am — Jasper." 

At this Mr. Rana looked very much dis- 
pleased. 

" I do not like that name," he said. " I re- 
member a small boy who used to answer to 
that name. When I first came out of my 

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OF THE GARDEN 

winter home and went to my summer quar- 
ters, he used to throw stones at my friends and 
me when we sang in the evenings. One day 
he caught my mate and me, and put us in a 
box and did not give us anything to eat for a 
long time. We could not get out, and had we 
stayed there I feel sure both would have 
starved, but as I was the larger of the two, I 
ate her." 

" Oh! " exclaimed Jasper, and he was just 
ready to ask, " Was that what became of 
her? " when he remembered that it would not 
be wise to let his identity be known. 

" Yes, I ate her/' said Mr. Rana, " but it 
was not my fault, for had she been the larger 
and stronger of the two she would have eaten 
me. However, that is why I do not like the 
name of Jasper." 

" But," said Jasper, " I am not a small boy, 
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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

as you see. I am a friend of the fairies. They 
call me a Jasper Bug." 

" If you are a friend of the fairies you are 
my friend, too," said Mr. Rana, " for I love 
the fairies. I love insects and bugs, too. Are 
you sure you are not an insect or a bug? " 

" Oh, no, no," exclaimed Jasper, who saw a 
suspicious look in Mr. Rana's eyes and no- 
ticed that he smacked his lips in a strange 
manner. " I am a good friend of the fairies." 

" Very well then, I shall invite you to spend 
the remainder of the day with me. Have you 
had your dinner? " 

" Yes, thank you," answered Jasper. 

" I have not had mine yet," said the frog, 
" but if you will sit very quietly just where 
you are, I will have it in a very few minutes." 

Jasper sat very quietly as a large fly came 
buzzing near. She was some distance from 

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OF THE GARDEN 

the frog when Jasper saw her suddenly disap- 
pear. 

" Where did she go? " he asked eagerly. 

The frog only blinked his eyes and looked 
well satisfied as he said, " She was a good, 
tender fly." 

" Did you eat her? " exclaimed Jasper. 

" Certainly/' said Mr. Rana. 

" Why, she was quite a distance from your 
mouth when I saw her last." 

In answer to this Mr. Rana threw out from 
his mouth a long forked tongue. Instead of 
being attached at the back and having the 
front end free, it was attached to the front 
part of the mouth and the back was free. 

"All I have to do," said Mr. Rana, " is 
barely to touch an insect with my tongue, and 
my dinner is secure. For there is a substance 
on my tongue to which the insect sticks and it 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

cannot get free. I need not tell you that I 
throw out my tongue, capture my prey and 
swallow it before you can say ' Jack Robin- 
son,' for you have seen that for yourself." 

On hearing this Jasper moved farther away 
from his new friend. 

" Oh, do not be afraid," said Mr. Rana. 
" I would never attempt to eat a friend of the 
fairies, however tempting he might look." 

" I am not afraid/ 5 said Jasper. " I was 
only thinking that your tongue is put in back- 
wards." 

" Well, I find it much more useful put in 
this way than I would if it were put in as 
yours is. I like to sit in the sunshine and play 
that I am asleep. I keep one eye open a little 
so that I can see any insect that chances to 
pass, and when I see a tempting one, out goes 
my long tongue and down goes the insect." 

124 



OF THE GARDEN 

" I believe," said Jasper, trying to change 
the subject, " that you said you are the most 
renowned jumper in the world. I should like 
to see you prove that." 

" It is the easiest thing in all the world to 
prove," said the frog. And no sooner had the 
words been spoken than Jasper saw the most 
wonderful legs he had ever beheld. 

You see, the frog had been squatting all the 
time, so that Jasper had not noticed his legs. 
And what a jumper Mr. Rana was! He 
really jumped ten times his own length. If 
boys and girls could do as well they would be 
able to leap more than forty feet. 

" How did you ever do it? " asked Jasper 
when Mr. Rana had made another great leap 
and landed back in his first position. 

' You see," said the frog, " I have very 
wonderful legs. When I am sitting like this 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

you do not notice my hind legs. They are 
very, very long and have strong muscles. I 
have five toes on my hind feet, and they are 
webbed something like the duck's toes. This 
makes them very helpful to me in swimming. 
My forelegs are short, and help me in holding 
up the front part of my body." 

" Your legs are wonderful," admitted Jas- 
per, " but I think your eyes interest me even 
more than your legs. Just a little while ago 
I noticed that there was a thin skin over them, 
and now they are clear and bright." 

" You have not yet noticed the most won- 
derful thing about my eyes. I dare say that 
I have the most remarkable organs of sight of 
all creatures. You would, I suppose, call my 
eyes pop-eyes, for they sit out from my face. 
You see, in addition to looking for my own 
dinner I am forced to beware lest I serve for 

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OF THE GARDEN 

some other creature's meal. A large bird may 
come down through the air and snap me up; 
a naughty boy like that Jasper, of whom we 
spoke, may creep up on me unawares and cap- 
ture me; a snake may come from the bushes 
on my right or left, so I need to be able to see 
above, far to the side and the front all at once. 
Then, too, I live in the water a great deal. I 
like to swim around near the surface of the 
pond. In this way I catch many appetizing 
insects. To do this it is quite necessary for 
me to keep my eyes open. This would be a 
physical impossibility under the water. I need 
only to extend my eyes, for they can be ex- 
tended or drawn back at will, and all of little 
me that is above the water are my two observ- 
ant eyes, which bear a close resemblance to 
water bubbles. So, you see, I can see all that 
is happening around and still remain unseen 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

myself. The thin skin you saw over my eyes 
was my lower eyelid. I draw this over my 
eyes when I want to make insects think I am 
asleep. 

" I have something else, too, besides my 
eyes which warn me of the approach of my 
enemies. My ears are very sensitive. Look 
right behind each eye and you will see them." 

" I can't see any ears," said Jasper, exam- 
ining the frog's head closely. " I can see only 
two big spots." 

"Silly!" said the frog. "Those are my 
ears. Did you expect me to have great, flap- 
ping ears like an elephant, or shells on my head 
like that boy, Jasper? I do not have any outer 
trimmings to my ears. These spots are the 
drums of my ears, and I can hear even the 
slightest rustle. 

" Last night we were all singing and croak- 

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OF THE GARDEN 

ing as loudly as we could. There were about 
one hundred frogs in the concert. We had a 
full orchestra, from the soft ' Peep-peep ' of 
the Pickering frog, to the great ' Jug-o'-rum ! 
Jug-o'-rum! ' of the bullfrog. The little leop- 
ard frog chimed in with his ' Chug! Chug! ' 
while our cousins, the toads, came in on the 
chorus with their sweet musical noise, which 
sounded like some creature purring through a 
melodious flute. 

" You would have thought that the people 
who heard us would have kept quiet so as to 
prolong the music, but two boys came to the 
pond to get frogs' legs. They crept quietly 
enough, but a little twig broke under their feet 
and we heard even that slight noise. Our 
music stopped and we scattered, so the 
boys had no frogs' legs for dinner the next 
day." 

129 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" What is that you are eating? " asked Jas- 
per. 

" Eating? " said the frog. " I am not eat- 
ing. I only wish I were." 

" Why, you look as if you were all the time 
swallowing something," said Jasper. 

" Ha! Ha! " laughed the frog. " That is 
the way I breathe. You see, my nostrils are 
near the top of my head. They open and 
close constantly while I am breathing. I do 
not have ribs as boys and girls do. There is an 
opening between my nose and the back part 
of my mouth. When I open my nostrils and 
pull down the skin on the under side of my 
chin, my mouth is filled with air, then I close 
my nostrils and push the chin up. This forces 
the air down the windpipe into the lungs. It 
looks as if I were swallowing all the time, but 
I am only breathing the way all frogs breathe. 

130 



OF THE GARDEN 

1 That reminds me. I really wish that I 
had something tempting to eat. Where do 
you usually dine and what is your favorite 
food? " 

" I think I like the nectar from the lilies the 
best of all," said Jasper. " I shall take my 
late afternoon meal in the lily bed." 

" Such fare would not please me/' said Mr. 
Rana. " I shall go hunting like a gentleman 
for my food. I shall go down by the barn. 
There I shall find plenty of flies. When you 
have dined, meet me at the other side of the 
pond where the water-lilies grow and I will 
tell you something about my childhood." 

" I'll do it," said Jasper, and away he flew 
to the lily bed, while Mr. Rana leaped away 
towards the barn. 

It took Jasper but a short while to sip the 
nectar from the lilies, and he was down at the 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

pond before the frog had satisfied himself 
with his feast of flies. In fact, Jasper had 
about decided that the frog was an old deceiver 
when he saw him come leaping over the 
ground towards him. Mr. Rana had to sit 
and swallow air a long time before he was 
ready to begin the conversation. Indeed, 
Jasper was about ready to remind him that he 
had promised to tell him about his childhood 
when Mr. Rana looked wisely at Jasper and 
said, " Would you ever think that I was once 
a fish? " 

"Ha! Ha! Ha! What a joke! " laughed 
Jasper. " A fish! Indeed, I would not." 

" Well, I was, anyway, but before that I 
was a small egg no larger than the head of a 
pin. 

" One spring day my mother laid her eggs 
in this very pond. The eggs were very queer- 

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OF THE GARDEN 

looking. They looked like little black spots 
surrounded by white jelly. I was one of those 
little black spots ; the others were my brothers 
and sisters. Soon the round black spots be- 
gan to lengthen, then they began to wriggle 
about. We, my brothers and sisters and my- 
self, broke the thin membrane which covered 
us and we went swimming about in the water. 
It was great fun to wag our long, flat tails as 
we swam through the water, for we were little 
baby frogs then, although we were really 
more like fish than we were like frogs and we 
were called tadpoles. As we grew larger, lit- 
tle feathery bunches grew at the sides of our 
heads. These were our outside gills. After 
a while we had wide mouths and we could 
nibble at objects around us. Before this we 
had lived entirely on the jelly which sur- 
rounded the eggs. After we had a mouth, 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

our outside gills began to shrink and we 
breathed by taking water in at the mouth and 
allowing it to run out through slits in our 
necks. Then our eyes and our nostrils made 
their appearance. 

" It was a great delight to me when I was 
able to see the soft, green things all about me. 
I had felt them touch my body, and I knew 
that they must be beautiful, but I was not 
prepared for quite such beauty as I saw. 

" One day I found little lumps growing on 
each side of the hind part of my body. This 
worried me and I felt feverish, cross, and fret- 
ful. I thought that something dreadful was 
going to happen, but I was delighted one day 
to learn from some older frogs that from the 
lumps would soon grow two helpful hind legs. 
Then my front legs appeared and my happi- 
ness knew no bounds, for now I spent much 

134 



OF THE GARDEN 

time at the surface of the pond with my mouth 
out of the water. I liked to watch the large 
frogs out on the bank, for something seemed 
to tell me that I would soon be like them. 

" While all these changes were taking place 
on the outside of my body, even greater ones 
were occurring on the inside. Lungs had 
been growing. After I had lungs I had no 
use for my internal gills, so they disappeared. 
My tail also disappeared. You see, I had so 
many new organs to be made that my old 
ones, such as tail and gills, had to be taken to 
make the new ones. 

" I cannot make you know how happy I 
was when I leaped from the water to the bank, 
a fine frog, one who could sing with the best 
of them. I could then catch many fine insects 
and leap around over the ground. 

" I had a very hard time that summer, for 
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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

there was a dreadful drought. We frogs can- 
not thrive in very dry weather. Our skins 
need moisture. When it is very damp our 
skins absorb water and we store it up, so that 
we can have it in seasons of drought. Some- 
times when we are suddenly caught we eject a 
quantity of this water. 

" Well, as I was saying, this first summer 
of my life there was a dreadful drought. My 
companion and I spent most of our time in 
the pond, but each day the sun grew hotter 
and the water in the pond got lower and 
lower. At last there was no water left and 
the pond had only a brown baked surface. 
We burrowed down into the soft mud and 
stayed there until the drought was over. It 
was a happy day, I can tell you, when we 
heard the thunder and felt the rain pattering 
down on the sun-baked bed of the pond. ' ' 

136 



OF THE GARDEN 

" I am sure," said Jasper, " that you have 
been happier as a frog than you ever were as 
a tadpole." 

"Well, I don't know," said Mr. Rana. 
" Tadpoles are much like little boys and girls. 
They long to grow up, and when they grow 
up, they look back and think that their child- 
hood was the happiest time of their lives." 

" How old are you, anyway? " asked Jas- 
per. 

" I really think that is an impertinent ques- 
tion," said the frog. " Do you not know that 
it is unwise to inquire about one's age? I will 
tell you this much, however, I am a full- 
grown frog, and it takes five years for a frog 
to get his full growth from the time he is 
hatched from the egg. If I am not gobbled 
up by one of my many enemies, I hope to live 
to be ten or twelve years old." 

137 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" Why don't you wear pretty clothes like the 
redbird? " asked Jasper, inspecting the frog's 
suit closely. " Your suit is so ugly and dirty 
looking." 

" It is a wise Providence that gave me this 
suit, and I would not be gayly dressed like the 
birds if I could, for if I were I should be too 
easily seen by geese, birds, and small boys. 
These long ridges down my back keep me 
from being seen. They look like sticks, lying 
in regular rows. My green coat looks like 
the leaves, my silver vest like the glimmer of 
the water, and my brown feet are in color very 
much like the moist earth. My dress suits 
me, and I am glad it is as it is. 

" But see, the sun is going down, and when 
the twilight hour comes we frogs are all to 
meet on the bank of the pond and sing. It is 
great sport, so I'll say good-bye. I have en- 

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OF THE GARDEN 

joyed the day and I hope that you have 
also." 

Jasper assured Mr. Rana that the day had 
passed very pleasantly and that he hoped he 
should see him again soon. Then the frog 
hopped away to join his comrades while Jas- 
per sat by the pond musing on all he had 
heard and seen until the twilight hour came. 
He listened for a while to the frogs' orchestra 
and then flew away to his night's rest under 
the lily leaf. 




139 




THE MOTHER WHO CARRES HER BABIES 

IN A SILK BAG UNTIL THEY ARE LARGE 

ENOUGH TO RIDE UPON HER BACK 

A S the long summer days passed by, Jas- 
per learned more and more of the won- 
derful happenings in the garden. He learned 
more and more of the habits, the pleasures, the 
sorrows, the dangers, the hairbreadth escapes 

140 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

and the life tragedies of the little people who 
live in the garden. He saw them at the be- 
ginning and at the ending of their lives, for 
he watched some from the time the eggs were 
laid until the little lives were ended — some- 
times by a natural death and sometimes by a 
very unnatural one. 

He learned to love the insects and other 
creatures of the garden, and before the au- 
tumn days came he had learned to feel their 
sorrows and share their anxieties in a manner 
that would have surprised his mother had she 
known. 

The fairies did not tell her all this, but they 
did leave her little golden hearts now and 
then, telling her how he was faring. 

It was on the day that Jasper met the little 
mother of the garden with her twenty-four 
children on her back that the fairies brought 

141 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

to his mother the heart containing this mes- 
sage: " Your little Jasper is quite well. He 
is learning to think more of the comfort of 
others than of his own comfort. We promise 
his safe return before you light the candles on 
your Christmas tree." 

Jasper's meeting with this odd little mother 
came about in this way. He had wandered 
over to the fence that separated the garden 
from the roadway when he saw something that 
interested him very much. Running along 
over the ground after a fly, which had injured 
its wing, was a mother spider with twenty- 
four little baby spiders clinging to her back. 

Jasper watched the youngsters with much 
interest, for first one little fellow and then an- 
other would tumble from his roosting-place. 
There was really too little, room for all the 
twenty-four. 

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OF THE GARDEN 

After the fly had been captured and eaten, 
the mother walked on more leisurely and the 
children enjoyed their quiet ride. 

" I think I'll speak to that indulgent 
mother," said Jasper to himself. " I know 
who she is, but I am afraid to address her as 
Mrs. Spider, for she may think me unworthy 
of her confidence. I'll try it, anyhow." 

So he crawled up very close to where she was 
resting for a few minutes and said: " Good- 
morning, Mrs. Spider. Are you having a walk 
with your family this beautiful morning? " 

Mrs. Spider seemed very friendly, for she 
spoke very quickly. " Yes, a very pleasant 
walk, but these troublesome children will not 
let me rest long." 

' You have quite a family," remarked Jasper 
by way of continuing the conversation. 

" If you think this quite a family," said Mrs. 

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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Spider, giving one of her forefeet a twitch, 
which knocked several of her offspring to the 
ground, " then you should have seen it several 
days ago when they first came out of the silk 
bag. There were about one hundred of them 
then." 

" One hundred! " exclaimed Jasper. " Why, 
I have just counted them and there are only 
twenty-four now. What became of all the 
others? Did they die of measles, whooping 
cough, or what? " 

" Measles? Whooping cough? I do not 
know what you mean. I do know, however, 
that these twenty- four lively spiders you see ate 
their less fortunate brothers and sisters." 

"Ate them? " exclaimed Jasper. 

" Yes," answered the mother without even a 
tear. " They were smaller, you see, and not 
able to defend themselves." 

144 



OF THE GARDEN 

" But where was their father? Why didn't 
he make them behave themselves better? " 
asked Jasper, remembering how his father al- 
ways righted things with which his mother was 
not able to cope. 

" Why, how could he, for I ate him when his 
work was finished? " 

" Do all spiders behave in this way? " asked 
Jasper. 

" Oh, no," answered Madam Spider, " not 
all. Some husbands and wives live a long life 
together in the same net. That is, a long life 
for spiders. Other mother spiders allow the 
father of the family to go away from the home 
peacefully and live his life as he may choose. 

1 You may not believe it, but I was very 
popular when I was young." 

At the memory of her youthful days Mrs. 
Spider puffed herself up so that all the little 

145 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

yellow babies tumbled over each other to the 
ground. 

" Many male spiders came courting me, but 
I was rather scornful of them and they were so 
much smaller than I that I could not overcome 
an irresistible inclination to pounce upon them 
and stow them away in my larder. Three 
skeletons lay outside my house before the 
father of these youngsters was accepted." 

Jasper would have felt a disgust for this 
cruel creature had he not realized that she was 
not responsible for the instincts which made 
her perform such actions. 

" You spoke about keeping your children in 
a silk bag at one time, did you not? " asked 
Jasper, quite ready to change the conversa- 
tion. 

" That was a beautiful bag," said Mrs. 
Spider. " I made it myself, spun the silk, and 

146 



OF THE GARDEN 

all. First I laid a large number of tiny eggs, 
then I covered them with this soft silk. If I 
had belonged to the family of spiders known 
as the orb weavers, I should have hidden the 
cocoon in a protected place and watched it 
until I died, which I should have done when 
the cold weather came. The eggs would have 
hatched the following spring, but I should 
never have seen my babies. But, being a 
ground spider, I took care of my eggs until 
these fine babies came out of the beautiful silk 
bag. 

" Every morning I used to carry the bag up 
to the top of my hole and let the warm sunshine 
fall upon it. After many days of this good 
sunning, my babies began to get quite lively. 
They kicked loose the skin which bound them in 
the egg and when they were strong enough to 
run about, they scrambled out of the cocoon 

147 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

and climbed upon my back. Baby spiders 
seem to know that the best place in the world 
for a ride is on the mother's back. 

" When I found that I had no further need 
of the silk bag, I threw it away." 

" I should think," said Jasper, " that you 
would have a hard time keeping your children 
together. Don't they ever get lost when they 
wander away as I see that frisky one doing 
now? " 

" I must say," said Madam Spider, " that 
you do not have very sharp eyes. Can't you 
see that as my babies run about they leave be- 
hind them slender threads by which they can 
find their way back." 

" But where does that silk thread come 
from? " asked Jasper. 

" Why," said Mrs. Spider, " in the rear of 
each little abdomen is an organ known as the 

148 



OF THE GARDEN 

spinneret. From this they spin the silk thread. 
When the silk first comes out it is a liquid, but 
it quickly hardens in the air. Each little spider 
uses its hind feet in arranging, guiding, and 
fastening the thread. 

"Oh, look at that fine ant!" exclaimed 
Mrs. Spider suddenly. " I must get her, for 
she will make an appetizing meal for my 
babies." 

And the excited mother jumped so quickly 
that all her babies tumbled to the ground. She 
pinned the ant down with her forefeet and then 
began drawing out fine silk threads from her 
spinning-tube and winding them around and 
around the ant. 

The poor captured insect struggled to get 
free, but it was useless, for the mother spider 
had him well bound. After so carefully bind- 
ing her prey she crushed him with her strong 

149 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

jaws and all the little spiders flocked around 
to suck the sweet juice from the poor dead 
ant. 

" Now," said Mrs. Spider when the meal 
was finished, " I am going to take you over and 
show you my home and then I should like to 
introduce you to some of my relatives." 

" I shall be very glad, indeed, to see your 
home and meet your relatives," said Jasper. 
" Which way shall we go? " 

" I live over in the far end of the garden by 
the raspberry-bushes. Hold tight, children! 
We are ready to start." 

And away jumped Mrs. Spider at such a 
rapid pace that Jasper found it hard to keep 
up with her. 

When she reached the raspberry-bushes, she 
stopped before a smooth hole about the size of 
a man's finger. It went straight down in the 

150 



OF THE GARDEN 

ground and was lined with a smooth layer of 
silk. 

Jasper thought that it would make a very 
nice home for the winter, but in summer he 
preferred the sunny paths outside to the dark 
cellar which was the spider's home. However, 
he was polite enough to say that he thought it 
a very nice home, indeed. 

"A very nice home! " exclaimed the spider. 
" Why, it is the very best home in the world. 
When the nights are cold I weave a web of silk 
over my doorway and we keep quite warm and 
comfortable inside. 

" Over in that fence corner lives my cousin, 
Mrs. Orb Weaver. She builds a house about 
which all human beings rave, but I much prefer 
to live in my hole in the ground rather than in 
her house." 

But when Jasper looked at the beautiful 
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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

structure Mrs. Orb Weaver had made, he felt 
that he could not agree with Mrs. Ground 
Spider, for every line in the web seemed to be 
perfect. The spider had first made a frame- 
work of dry and inelastic lines, which were all 
quite strong. The outer part of the frame- 
work was irregular, but the central part was 
regular and consisted of a number of lines 
which radiated from the center of the web. 
To these radiating lines the spider had fastened 
a thin, sticky, and elastic thread in the form of a 
spiral. In the center of this beautiful web sat 
the mistress of the house. 

" That is a beautiful web," said Jasper. 
" Does Mrs. Orb Weaver stay in that all the 
time? " 

" Oh, no, no," said Mrs. Ground Spider. 
" That is her sitting-room. She lives there 
part of her time, but she also spends some time 

152 



OF THE GARDEN 

in the other parts of her web. The little nest 
at the side is for the baby spiders." 

" I do not see how she could ever build such 
a beautiful web," said Jasper. 

" I shall call her down and have her tell you 
all about it," said Mrs. Ground Spider. 

Then she called her in such a queer way. 
Oh, no, she did not say, " My dear cousin, come 
out. I wish to speak with you." She shook 
the web a very little and Mrs. Orb Weaver 
came running out. 

" You see," said Mrs. Ground Spider to 
Jasper, " she thinks a bee or a fly is caught in 
her web and she is coming out to get it, but 
she will be surprised when she sees that it is I." 

Mrs. Orb Weaver was much disappointed 
when she found that it was not a tempting fly 
shaking her web, but she consented to tell Jas- 
per how she made her beautiful home. 

153 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

"You see," said Mrs. Orb Weaver, "the 
back part of my body is large and round, and 
contains six small round tubes. Each of these 
tubes is made up of many very small ones. 
From the small tubes comes the very peculiar 
material from which my web is made. When 
it first comes out, it looks very much like glue. 
But when it comes in contact with the air it 
gets hard, and when it hardens it looks like fine 
silk. 

" When I was ready to make my web, I se- 
lected this place because it is away from the 
part of the garden where so many people 
pass. Then, too, it is not far from the barn 
and I can get a great many flies for my 
babies. 

" After I selected this place, I pressed the 
end of my tube and made a drop of glue fast 
to the fence. Then I pulled myself away and 

154 



OF THE GARDEN 

left behind me a number of fine streamers of 
gluey substance all of which combined into one 
silk-like thread as the air hardened it. 

" My troubles began right then, for I could 
not find a good place to make the other end of 
the web fast, so I had to climb back and start 
another thread. All these long lines in the 
web are called rays. I spun them first. You 
can see how they spread out like the spokes of 
a wheel." 

" But, 5 ' interrupted Jasper, " I do not see 
how you could ever keep them so even." 

" Why," said the spider, " I guide the lines 
with my feet and I pull each one to see if it is 
firm." 

" But look! " exclaimed Jasper. " The silk 
of the rays is different from that which goes 
around." 

" Of course it is," said Mrs. Orb Weaver. 
155 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" In my web I use two kinds of silk. The silk 
of which the rays are made is smooth, but the 
silk that goes across the rays contains tiny 
drops of glue. These make the lines stick to 
the rays. 

" Where was I in my description when you 
interrupted me? " 

Mrs. Orb Weaver looked at Jasper so hard 
that he felt conscious of having been very im- 
polite. 

" Oh, yes, I was telling you what I did after 
I completed my rays. After my rays were all 
made I began my lines. I began at the center 
and stretched the threads round and round the 
web from spoke to spoke as far apart as I 
could reach. When I reached the outer edge 
of my web, I turned back and placed the spiral 
lines you now see. I destroyed the first set 
as I moved towards the center." 

156 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Why did you destroy them after you had 
placed them? " asked Jasper. 

" Because," explained the spider, " the first 
spiral lines were not sticky and I wanted my 
web to have sticky lines so that I could catch 
food for my babies. After I had woven my 
sticky lines, I had no need of the other lines, so 
I destroyed them. 

" Now keep very quiet and I'll show you 
how I catch a fly." 

A large fly was buzzing around the outer 
edge of the web. It seemed quite undecided 
whether to walk into the parlor or not, but at 
last, after much loud buzzing, it settled on a 
sticky thread. The thread stretched under the 
fly's weight and all its six feet were glued so 
fast that it could not get away. Down the line 
ran Mrs. Orb Weaver. She stung the fly so 
that it was paralyzed and could not move. 

157 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Then she wound some fine silk about it and 
made it into a neat bundle and carried it into 
her nest, anticipating a fine supper. 

When she returned from storing away the 
fly in her larder, Jasper noticed for the first 
time that one of her legs was smaller than the 
other seven, and before he realized how impolite 
it was to speak of any one's deformitory, he 
said: 

" Why, don't you know one of your legs is 
ever so much shorter and smaller than the 
others!" 

" That is so," said Mrs. Spider, who did not 
seem at all annoyed. " One day I got into a 
dispute with another spider and she bit my 
leg off, but in time another one grew in its 
place. It is true that it is smaller and not so 
useful as the others, but it does very well." 
And she gave the deformed limb such a 

158 



OF THE GARDEN 

shake that Jasper felt assured that it was all 
right. 

" I should like to know one thing," said Jas- 
per. " What did you do to that fly to make 
him lie so quietly while you bound him with 
your silk cords? " 

" Do you see these two short fangs on my 
head? " said Mrs. Spider. " They are my 
jaws. I keep my poison in tubes at the base 
of my two jaws. When I close my jaws on 
the fly, poison flows into his veins and this 
poison paralyzes him so that he cannot move. 
Talking about that fly makes me very hungry, 
so I think I shall go in and have a feast." 

Jasper watched as his friend dined and he 
saw that she did not eat the fleshy part of the 
fly, but sucked out the juices. When she had 
finished, there was nothing left of the once 
large fly but a dry shell. Mrs. Spider did not 

159 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

care to have the fly's skeleton left in her house, 
so she shook her web with her foot, but the 
fly's body seemed to stick fast, 

" I can't get it out," said Mrs. Spider after 
many attempts, " so I'll do the next best 
thing. I shall cut out that piece of the web 
where the skeleton is and mend the web with 
new lines." 

So she started to work and showed so plainly 
that she did not care to be bothered with com- 
pany that Jasper suggested to Mrs. Ground 
Spider that they go to see her other relatives. 

"All right, come ob," said Mrs. Ground 
Spider, and all the little spiders scrambled to 
her back — all but one, I should say, who looked 
to Jasper as if he were having spasms. He 
was twitching and twisting as if he were in 
pain. 

" What is he doing? " asked Jasper. 

160 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Only changing his skin for the second 
time," said his mother. " He has only one 
more time to change it, then he will be a full- 
grown spider." 

"Doesn't it hurt?" asked Jasper, as the 
little spider wriggled free from his old coat and 
scrambled upon his mother's back all dressed 
in a glossy new coat. 

" Of course not," said Mrs. Ground Spider. 
" It just splits down his back and he shakes it 
off, and his new suit is waiting, fresh and clean, 
for him." 

' Well, I never heard of such a funny 
thing," said Jasper as they went towards the 
pond. 

" I shall not have time now to stop and talk 
with those other cousins of mine," said Mrs. 
Spider, " so it will not be wise to let them see 
us, for if we do we shall get into a conversation 

161 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

and I shall be late getting home. See that 
spider running on the water? He is a cousin 
of mine. He has the queerest feet. They 
look as if they had tiny balloons on them. 
They make it possible for him to skate along 
on the water. 

" Now come to the side of the pond. Do 
you see that ball in the water that shines like 
silver? That is the nest of my cousin, Mrs. 
Water Spider. Her web is so thick that it 
does not get wet. There she is now on that 
lily pad. See her dive. Her velvet coat keeps 
her as dry as can be, for it is water-proof. I 
wish I could show you her eggs. They look 
like little golden eggs, but she is under the 
water now and it may be quite a long time be- 
fore she comes up. 

" The air is getting chilly, so I must go into 
my hole now, for my babies may catch cold." 

162 



OF THE GARDEN 

And Mrs. Ground Spider hopped away 
while Jasper thought how much, after all, the 
little people of the garden are like men and 
women and boys and girls. The mothers try 
to shield their children from all harm. The 
fathers work and toil for the good of the flock. 
The boys and girls live and grow so as to be 
able to take their parents' places in the world 
when their parents are no more. 

It matters not whether like the bee, the ant, 
and the fly they have six legs, or like the frog — 
only four, or like the spider — eight, or yet like 
a human being — only two, or like the earth- 
worm — none at all, but things that answer 
just as well, they show the same spirit in their 
relation to life. 

That night Jasper went to sleep thinking, 
" Oh, I love the little people of the garden, but 
I love my mother and father, too, and I should 

163 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

like to see them to-night and tell them just how 
I feel about all the naughty things I have 
done/' 




164 




JASPER MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE 

OF A QUEER INSECT WHO EATS HER 

CAST-OFF CLOTHES INSTEAD OF GIVING 

THEM AWAY 

I" T was a very warm day in late summer and 

Jasper was wondering if any place in all the 

world could be quite so warm as the garden. 

All the morning and during the early part of 

the afternoon the sun had been shining on the 

165 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

walks and the flower beds, and now, at four 
o'clock, it seemed warmer than ever. 

Jasper looked longingly in the direction of 
his cool porch and shaded hammock, but cool 
porches and comfortable hammocks were not 
made for insects with six sprawling legs, so he 
contented himself with a swaying branch of a 
sassafras-bush. 

He did not know when he alighted on the 
green leaves of the bush that he was intruding 
on the private property of the queerest little 
being the garden had yet shown him. He had 
not been there long, however, before he felt a 
queer sensation of something pushing against 
his back, and, turning, he saw the oddest-look- 
ing creature. It wore a coat of dappled grey- 
green covered with warts. One pair of these 
warts stood out like ears. The queer creature's 
body was made up of twelve rings and a head. 

166 



OF THE GARDEN 

Its head was covered with a horny cap. And 
twelve little eyes, six on each side, looked Jas- 
per full in the face. 

" Perhaps you do not know," said the crea- 
ture, " that you are sitting right on top of my 
house." 

" Indeed I did not know it," said Jasper 
with a start. " I beg your pardon. I will 
leave at once." 

" Oh, do not be in such a hurry. Stay and 
visit with me," said the queer creature. " I 
see that you belong to the six-leg family and I 
should like very much to talk with you a while." 

" I shall be glad to talk with you," said 
Jasper, " but I am full of curiosity to know 
just who you are." 

' Who I am? " exclaimed the caterpillar, for 
that is who this queer creature was. " Why, I 
am Papilio Troilus." 

167 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Jasper could not help but reflect that the 
name Papilio Troilus sounded very much like 
the name of a small Italian boy whom he used 
to know, but he did not have time to reflect 
long, for the caterpillar demanded his atten- 
tion. 

" The human beings call me a caterpillar, but 
I am Papilio Troilus and desire to be called by 
that name." 

As Jasper still remained inattentive, the 
caterpillar thrust out its horns, which were on 
the top of its head, and such a dreadful odor 
came from them that Jasper almost tumbled 
from the leaf. 

"My! My! What caused that dreadful 
odor? " exclaimed Jasper. 

" Don't be alarmed," said the caterpillar. 
" It was only my way of waking you up. You 
are so dull that only a good fright will make 

168 



OF THE GARDEN 

you come to life. I thrust out those horns 
when I wish to frighten animals, birds, and in- 
sects. The odor drives them off and helps me 
to defend myself." 

' You said a while ago," said Jasper, " that 
this sassafras-bush was your home. How does 
it happen to belong to you? Do you rent 
it?" 

" No," said the caterpillar, " I inherited it 
from my mother. You see, I never saw my 
mother, but the sassafras-bush has told me all 
about her and I feel as if I should know her if 
I could only see her, but, alas, she died before 
I was born." 

" How sad! " said Jasper. " Would you be 
so kind as to tell me the story the sassafras- 
bush told you? " 

" Certainly," said the caterpillar, settling 
down comfortably on the leaf. " I will tell 

169 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

you the story just as the sassafras-bush told it 
to me. It was only a few days ago that I 
heard the story. I had seen my reflection in a 
dewdrop that morning and I was feeling very 
blue, indeed, for some way or other I had al- 
ways felt until that morning that I was beauti- 
ful. With this idea in my head you can 
imagine how very much surprised and grieved 
I was on looking at my reflection in the dew- 
drop to see just how very homely I was. I 
was sitting on this leaf that evening after a 
very blue day when the dear old sassafras-bush 
swung me lightly to and fro and said such com- 
forting words to me. 

" ' I know, little caterpillar/ she said, ' what 
is the matter with you. You are afraid that 
you will never be beautiful because you are so 
homely now, but I have a secret to tell you. 
Just keep on day by day doing the things your 

170 



OF THE GARDEN 

heart tells you are right and some day you will 
be as beautiful as your mother was, and I am 
sure that she was one of the most beautiful 
creatures the garden has ever known/ 

" ' My mother! ' I exclaimed. ' Tell me 
what she was like.' 

" ! Oh,' said the sassafras-bush, ' I fear I 
can never make you understand how very 
beautiful she was. She had beautiful black 
velvet wings, thickly dusted with sage-green 
scales. Upon the upper side they were bor- 
dered with pale yellow dots and jeweled with 
four brilliant spots of orange. Underneath 
these were two lower wings with splendid tails 
on them. They were spotted with orange and 
sprinkled with blue which changed to many 
beautiful colors in the sunlight. Her eyes were 
like bright jewels. 

' 'All the flowers loved her. They were glad 
171 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

when she came to take their honey, and sorry 
when her beautiful wings bore her away. 

" ' One morning in the early summer this 
lovely creature fluttered near my leaves. I 
felt like calling her to come to me, for I knew 
that she was looking for a good place to de- 
posit her eggs, I could not call her, but I 
fluttered my green leaves in the sunshine and 
the shimmer of the bright leaves must have 
caught her eye, for she came to me and left 
her eggs on the under side of one of my leaves. 

" ' I was far more interested in the beautiful 
creature than I was in her eggs, so I did not 
notice them until she had gone away. She 
seemed very weary, and when I asked her what 
was the matter, she answered wearily, " My 
work is all done now. I have had a short, 
happy life. My eggs are all safe, so I shall go 
away and die." 

172 



OF THE GARDEN 

" ' Then she flew away. I watched her un- 
til she was almost out of sight, then I saw her 
fall exhausted to the ground, and, as she never 
returned to care for her eggs, I am sure that 
she died. 

" ' When she had gone I examined the eggs 
she had left. She had taken pains to place 
them far from the edge of the leaf and to glue 
them fast. The rain could not reach them, and 
they were hidden from the view of prowling 
insects. 

" ' I was much worried by the fact that the 
beautiful creature had selected my leaves on 
which to lay her eggs, but I decided to do the 
best I could. I held the leaf firm on my stem 
and took all the good food through my roots I 
could so my leaves would be strong and healthy, 
for I felt that when those babies left their pale 
green cradles they would eat my leaves. 

173 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" ' For a whole week I waited. Then one 
bright sunny morning there crept out from 
each of the eggs a tiny caterpillar. I had ex- 
pected to see little baby butterflies with beauti- 
ful wings such as their mother had, so I sighed 
a little and was not very happy until a little 
breeze whispered to me that I must have pa- 
tience and wait and soon the caterpillars would 
look so much like the butterfly that I could 
not tell the difference. 

" ' I have a great deal of faith in what the 
breeze tells me, so I am waiting and giving my 
leaves freely and some day I hope its words 
will come true.' 

" Now/ 5 said the caterpillar, " that is the 
story the sassafras-bush told me. I remember 
that bright sunny morning that I bit a hole in 
my cradle and crept out into the world. I did 
not know then that the world was all this 

174 



OF THE GARDEN 

beautiful garden. I thought that it was only 
the sassafras leaf on which I was born. 

" I was very hungry, so I ate the pale green 
shell that had once been my cradle. It was not 
hunger alone that made me eat it. Something 
inside of me told me that I had better eat it, 
for some hungry bird or insect might see it 
and know that a tender baby caterpillar was 
around. 

"After eating this I felt as if I wanted to 
explore, so I crawled over the edge of the leaf 
to its upper surface. The sassafras leaves 
smelled good, so I nibbled away at them until 
my appetite was satisfied. 

" Now, as young as I was, I knew that I 
must have a home in which to live, so I bit a 
channel through the middle of a sassafras leaf 
and folded the flap over upon the upper sur- 
face. I wove a beautiful carpet of white silk 

175 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

next to the midrib until it drew the flap over 
like a spring and held it firmly. Then I had 
a splendid tent into which I could creep at 
night. 

" It seemed to me that I should never get 
enough to eat. I ate and ate until I could feel 
myself getting too big for my outer coat. A 
few days after I came out of my egg-shell, the 
skin on the first ring of my body split open. I 
felt sleepy and sluggish, but still I had to make 
an effort to creep out of my old skin. At last, 
after much effort, my old clothes lay in a little 
heap behind me and I was dressed in a fine 
new suit. I did not give my old clothes away. 
No one would have cared for them. I ate them 
instead, and threw the old horny cap to the 
ground. 

" After this I ate more than ever. When I 
was a month old I had eaten about forty thou- 

176 



OF THE GARDEN 

sand times my own weight of food and had be- 
come ten thousand times heavier than I was 
when I came from my egg. 

" I have changed my skin and eaten it four 
times and I feel certain that I am about to 
change it again." 

" Please tell me," said Jasper, " how you 
breathe. You do not swallow air as the frog 
does and you certainly do not breathe as hu- 
man beings do." 

" No/' said the caterpillar, " I have breath- 
ing-holes in each side of ten of the segments of 
my body, I breathe through these." 

" How many legs have you, anyhow? " asked 
Jasper, peering under the caterpillar's body. 

" I have sixteen. That is, I have a pair of 
legs on each of my first three segments. They 
end in sharp claws. These are called my true 
legs. I use these for hands. Then I have 

177 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

four prop-legs farther back, and on my last 
segment I have still another pair. 

" O dear! O dear! I do feel so queer!" 
sighed the caterpillar. " I feel just as if I 
must hang myself! " 

" You look queer, too!" exclaimed Jasper. 
" You are rapidly changing color. You are 
now a rich golden yellow." 

Very abruptly the caterpillar turned and 
climbed carefully down from the leaf. Away 
she went and Jasper followed her, for if she 
really intended to hang herself, he desired to 
see just how she would go about it. 

Down the trunk of the bush crawled the 
caterpillar, across the gravel walk and on over 
the pansy bed to a small bush which grew near. 
Up the rough boughs she went until she 
reached a very rough twig. She crawled down 
the under side of this and spun a little tuft of 

178 



OF THE GARDEN 

silk, much like a button. In this she fastened 
her last pair of prop-legs and let her body hang 
outward. 

Jasper felt sure now that she intended to 
hang herself, so he called out, " Oh, please 
don't! Don't hang yourself! Perhaps you 
will be a beautiful butterfly some day! " 

But the caterpillar paid no attention what- 
ever to him. She held on firmly with her hind 
feet and drew in her four other pairs of prop- 
legs and folded the first and third pairs of true 
legs upon her breast. Then with the aid of her 
second pair of true legs she began spinning 
from her spinneret a fine silk thread. As she 
spun she rocked her head from side to side. 
By this motion she threw off a loop that stood 
out above her head. When she had made the 
loop three threads thick, she wriggled and 
twisted until she had succeeded in getting the 

179 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

loop half-way down over her body. Now the 
caterpillar was securely lashed to the twig, and 
she seemed so exhausted that Jasper felt sure 
that it would be a matter of only a few min- 
utes before she would be dead. 

" Poor thing! " he said. " I do not care to 
see her die, so I'll go away and perhaps in a 
day or two I'll come back and see how she is." 

He did not go back for several days. One 
evening he sought the twig and saw his friend 
still hanging there motionless, but as he looked, 
the little case seemed to be seized with a queer 
trembling. A great rent appeared in the yel- 
low coat of the caterpillar. She began wrig- 
gling and twisting and twitching until at last 
the yellow coat slipped away, taking the legs 
and the yellow horns with it. What was once 
his friend, the caterpillar, was now only a little 
green case on a rough twig. 

180 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Well," said Jasper, with a sigh as he turned 
away, " I guess that is the last I'll ever see 
of my queer friend whose first meal was her 
own cradle and who eats her old clothes instead 
of giving them away to those less fortunate." 




181 




THE BELLE OF THE GARDEN 

"\ \ THAT a short life these creatures of the 
garden have, anyway! " said Jasper to 
himself as he turned away from the bush where 
the caterpillar had suspended herself. " At the 
best they have only a very little while to live. 

182 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

I am sorry that I ever tortured them, for they 
are kind-hearted and do much more good than 
harm. I should like to see the fairy and tell 
her I am sorry and that I will never again do 
an unkind act towards them, if she will only 
change me into a boy with two strong legs in 
place of these six helpless thin members." 

But no fairy came to make the change. 
However, when he crossed the garden path to 
the lily bed, something almost as beautiful as 
a fairy came flying from the heart of a lily 
and lighted beside him. 

" Good-morning! " said Jasper. "Are you 
one of the fairies? " 

" No indeed," said the beautiful creature, 
" but I know a story much more wonderful 
than any fairy tale. 

" I saw you watching your little friend, the 
caterpillar, just now and I feel sure that you 

183 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

will be interested in something I can tell you 
about her." 

" But who are you? " said Jasper. 

"lama butterfly, the guest of the flowers. 
When I visit them they feel honored and put 
forth their gayest colors and sweetest odors to 
attract me. Some flowers are so afraid that 
we butterflies will pass them by without taking 
their hidden store of nectar that they point out 
the path to their treasures by means of spots 
and stripes. Look at that tiger lily and those 
nasturtiums and you will see what I mean." 

" They are certainly very kind to you," re- 
marked Jasper. 

" Yes, they are kind," replied the butterfly. 
" But we help them, too. In return for such 
hospitality we bear the precious pollen from 
plant to plant and in this way help them to 
bring forth good seed for more plants." 

184 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Why, you do much the same work for the 
flowers that the bees do," said Jasper. " Do 
you have baskets on your legs, too? " 

" Oh, no, no," said the butterfly. " The 
pollen sticks to my long slender proboscis when 
I uncoil it to suck up the nectar from the flower 
cups, and I brush it off in the next blossom I 
visit. 

" But I promised to tell you a real fairy 
story about your friend, the caterpillar. You, 
doubtless, thought when you saw her hang- 
ing so quietly there where she has bound 
herself that she would never move about 
again, but you are mistaken, for I once 
hung in just such a state, and look at me 
now!" 

With this remark the gorgeous butterfly cir- 
cled around several times so that Jasper could 
get a good view of her wonderful coloring. 

185 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

When she had settled herself again on the 
August lilies, she continued. 

" Indeed, you are quite mistaken when you 
imagine that your friend will not have a fuller 
and a better life than that of a caterpillar. 
When the first warm days of spring come you 
must watch the little case in which she sleeps. 
You will notice some motion like deep breath- 
ing. These motions will help to crack open 
the hard case and our little friend will come 
out. But she will not be a caterpillar then, 
but a beautiful butterfly. 

"At first she will be so moist and weak that 
you cannot see how beautiful she really is. 
Her wings will droop helplessly at her side. 
But after breathing hard many times, the air 
will rush through her body and the frame of 
her wings will stiffen and fill out. Her body 
and legs will grow dry and firm. 

186 



OF THE GARDEN 

" When your friend first comes from the case 
she will look as if she were sick. She will stand 
still and rest for a long time. But after rest- 
ing several hours, her wings will dry and she 
will spread them out and fly away. 

"All this happened to me, and I know that it 
will happen to Papilio Troilus, who sleeps on 
yonder twig. I know that this is hard to be- 
lieve when you remember that when she went 
to sleep she was only an ordinary caterpillar, 
but so was I, and now see my beautiful wings 
and all my other wonderful members ! " 

" You certainly have beautiful wings," said 
Jasper, " but you have no legs." 

" Oh, yes, I have legs, but I seldom use them. 
They are little more than ornaments and almost 
as useless as the buttons on a man's coat- 
sleeve. 

" I have a wonderful tongue. It is made of 
187 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

two long hollow pieces. These halves fit face 
to face to form a tube. When they are fitted 
together they coil up like a watch-spring and 
fit inside of my mouth. I can eat only such 
things as can be sucked up through the tube of 
this long tongue. I use my tongue in much 
the same way as a small boy uses a straw in a 
glass of lemonade. 

" Can you see the beautiful scales on my 
wings? These scales are arranged like the 
shingles on the roof of a house. If you should 
touch my wings ever so lightly some of these 
scales would rub off." 

" I should think that you would soon rub all 
the scales off, flying around as you do," said 
Jasper. 

' Well, I do lose a great many. I just had 
a narrow escape before I met you. A large 
bird came swooping dovra upon me. I darted 

188 



OF THE GARDEN 

out from under him only to fly right under a 
boy's straw hat, and, had the boy been a little 
more rapid, I should have lost my life. As it 
was, I lost only a few of the beautiful scales 
from my wings and I tore my right wing 
slightly. 

" We butterflies have a hard time. We have 
to be on our guard constantly, for both birds 
and people like to capture us. Nature has 
helped us to protect ourselves by giving us 
wings which resemble the flowers in color, so 
that when we rest on a flower we cannot be 
easily seen. Then, too, when we fly we go 
in a zigzag fashion and we are not easily 
caught." 

" Where do you stay at nights? " asked Jas- 
per. " I do not remember ever seeing any 
butterflies flying about after dark." 

"At night and during rainy days we hide. 
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THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

We do not like the darkness and the rain. 
When the sun is shining brightly we are the 
most active." 

" Shall you stay in the garden all winter? " 
asked Jasper, " or shall you go south as the 
birds do? " 

"No," said the butterfly sadly, "I shall 
neither stay in the garden nor go south. When 
I lay my eggs I shall die, as most of my rela- 
tives have done before me. Some butterflies 
live from May until September. Some come 
out in April and live only through May. 
Others come for a little while in the spring and 
a second brood in October. Of these last, many 
lie torpid in cracks all winter. 

"At the best our lives are not long and it 
does seem cruel to shorten them unnecessarily, 
for two or three short months pass by all too 
quickly. 

190 



OF THE GARDEN 

" But I must be going. Our conversation 
reminds me that I have no time to lose." 

And with this remark, the butterfly spread 
its wings and was soon out of sight, leaving 
Jasper to wonder how he had ever had so little 
feeling as to capture and torment such lovely 
creatures. 




191 




JASPER MEETS AN OLD ENEMY 



F T was on a bright morning in the very late 
summer that Jasper was lying in the sun- 
shine thinking over what he had learned about 
the little people of the garden when he met one 
of his old enemies. It happened in this way: 

192 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

The morning had been very cool, so Jasper 
had delayed getting out from his bed under 
the lily leaves until the noonday sun had 
warmed the path. When at last he did venture 
out, he found that lying in an open space where 
the sun could fall upon him was very pleasant, 
indeed. 

He was amusing himself by recalling the 
many different places in which the little people 
of the garden were born. 

" The fly was born in the barn. The cater- 
pillar was born on the sassafras-bush," mur- 
mured Jasper. " The frog was born in the 
pond." 

"And I was born in a rain-barrel," said a 
voice near by. 

"And, pray, who are you?" asked Jasper, 
looking quickly up from his reverie. 

' Why, don't you know me? I am your old 
193 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

enemy. Many a time I have tormented you 
when you tried to sleep after playing all the 
warm morning. Do not think for one moment 
that I do not know you, even though you 
are slightly changed. I have known all the 
time who you are, but as I am not liked 
very well in the garden, to express myself 
would do me little good and you but little 
harm." 

Jasper looked all around him very carefully 
and at last spied a mosquito sitting quietly on 
a leaf near by. 

" Oh, I see you! " he cried, " and I recog- 
nize you, too, but I guess you are not such an 
enemy of mine after all if you have not told 
who I am, for telling that dreadful secret 
would mean so much ill for me. Come a little 
closer. I think I should like to talk to you 
a while." 

194 



OF THE GARDEN 

At this invitation the mosquito came a little 
nearer and seemed quite friendly. 

" So you were born in a rain-barrel, were 
you? " asked Jasper. 

" Yes, in the rain-barrel which stands under 
the water-spout at your back-kitchen door. It 
was a very nice place and I do not think that 
my mother could have selected a better home 
for her babies. You see, mosquito babies must 
be born in the water." 

" I do not think that a rain-barrel is a very 
good home," said Jasper. " If your mother 
had to have water for her babies to live in, why 
didn't she select the beautiful pond dotted with 
water-lilies and bordered with beautiful 
flowers?" 

" Ha! Ha! " laughed the mosquito, " that 
shows how much you know about mosquito 
babies. Fish are very fond of them, and fish 

195 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

live in the pond. The rain-barrel is deep and 
nothing can reach the mosquito babies there. 

" When my mother dropped her eggs into 
the rain-barrel there were about three hundred 
in the raft to which I belonged. The eggs were 
black and floated on top of the water. She 
laid these eggs early in the morning, about the 
time that the last drops of dew were drying 
from the grass. We hatched into wrigglers in 
the late afternoon. Of course all the eggs did 
not hatch, but out of the three hundred eggs 
came about two hundred little black wrigglers. 

" If you could have seen us in the rain-barrel 
I am sure that you would have laughed. The 
first thing that we all desired to do was to 
breathe. Now you will be surprised to hear 
that a wriggler breathes air through a tube that 
extends sidewise from its body near the hind 
end. So when we wanted to breathe, we came 

196 



OF THE GARDEN 

to the top of the water and rested with our 
breathing-tubes open to the air and our heads 
down. As soon as we had all the fresh air we 
needed, we began to flap our tails and swim 
away, darting about and waving the hairs near 
our mouths to and fro. 

" These little hairs are very useful to us, for 
they keep the water in motion and move to- 
wards our mouths the tiny particles of food 
which are in the water. We wrigglers cer- 
tainly did enjoy those bits which we found in 
the stagnant water. That is why the mother 
mosquito lays her eggs in a place where the 
water is not pure. 

" In a few days I changed from a wriggler to 
what is called a pupa. When I was about to 
make this change I shed my skin. I spent 
only two or three days as a pupa and I ate 
nothing during this time. I then ceased to 

197 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

breathe by the tail end of my body, and began 
to breathe by two tubes which extended up- 
ward from my back. I moved about very 
freely all this time. 

" While all this was going on, my wings and 
legs were growing beneath my skin and my 
body was changing to the body of a full-grown 
mosquito. 

" One day I felt very queer. I desired to 
float upon the water. My skin split down my 
back. I wriggled out and sat upon my old 
suit which floated around in the water. When 
my wings were dry, I flew away, leaving my 
empty skin there. Oh, what joy I found in 
flying around ! 

" I have a long, slender tube through which 
I suck my food. When I rest on a soft apple 
or a pair, I stick this tube into the fruit and 
draw the sweet juice up into my mouth. When 

198 



OF THE GARDEN 

I rest on the soft flesh of a person, I stick this 
long tube into the flesh and draw out the warm, 
red blood. I like this even better than I do the 
juice of the fruit. 

" When I suck the blood I leave behind a bit 
of poison which causes a raised spot and an 
itching on the skin. I have germs of malaria 
inside of my body. One morning I found you 
sleeping in your hammock. I bit you, and you 
doubtless remember how you lay in bed for two 
weeks with malarial fever and how weak you 
felt when you were able to walk about again. 
Well, that was all my fault." 

" You horrid mosquito! " exclaimed Jasper. 
" You are not only a great enemy of mine, but 
of all people both great and small/' 

The mosquito did not seem to mind this out- 
burst in the least, but continued: 

" I am a mother mosquito. The father mos- 
199 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

quito never bites. He has a long feathery 
antenna, but he does not use this for biting. 
He has no sting. 

" I can sing a beautiful song which worries 
people very much, but the male mosquito can- 
not sing. Listen and I will sing you a song." 

Then the mosquito began such a buzzing that 
Jasper was glad when she spread her wings and 
sailed away towards the pond where some chil- 
dren were sailing their boats. 




200 




THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE 
GARDEN PREPARE FOR WINTER 
AND JASPER RETURNS HOME 

p\ AYS passed without bringing any more 

adventures for Jasper. October, with its 

cold days and pale sunshine, had come and was 

almost gone. Jasper's limbs felt very stiff in 

the cold mornings and he began to wonder if 

201 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

the fairy was ever going to change him into a 
boy and permit him to leave the cold garden 
for the warm home he had learned to love so 
well. 

The lilies were all brown and withered, the 
marigolds hung limp and dark on their stems, 
and even the grass looked as if it had been 
scorched, for there had been a very light frost. 

As the days grew colder, Jasper became very 
anxious and his anxiety caused him to seek the 
bee, for he considered her quite the wisest of 
all the little people of the garden. He felt 
sure that she could tell him something to con- 
sole him. 

It took Jasper some time to reach Miss 
Apis's home, for the cold had made his legs so 
stiff that he was forced to walk very slowly. 
When he came in sight of the hive, he was 
frightened, for it looked so deserted that he 

202 



OF THE GARDEN 

felt sure the bees had moved away. He was 
about to turn around and search for the ant 
when who should fly slowly out of the hive but 
Miss Apis herself. 

"Miss Apis! Miss Apis!" cried Jasper. 
" Wait! I thought that you had moved away, 
for everything seemed so deserted." 

" Oh, it is my friend, the Jasper Bug!" 
cried Miss Apis. " I have not seen you for a 
long, long time. No, we have not moved away, 
but there are only a few bees left in the hive. 
We do not work so hard now as we did in the 
summer. You see, there is no honey to be 
gathered now, for there are no flowers. See 
the withered blossoms of the garden ! How de- 
jected they look! 

" We have driven all the drones out of our 
hive and by this time they are dead of cold 
and hunger." 

203 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

" How cruel that seems/' said Jasper. 

" Perhaps it does seem cruel, but the workers 
needed all the honey in the comb, for we 
have to be fed all through the long, cold 
winter. But I must hurry on. This cold 
weather makes me so very stiff and I dare 
not stay out of the hive too long. Good- 
bye!" 

And with that the bee was gone, leaving Jas- 
per with his very important question unasked. 

" I'll just go over to the ant-hill," said Jas- 
per, " and see Miss Formica. I am sure that 
she can tell me whether or not the fairies have 
been in the garden lately." 

It was with difficulty that Jasper made his 
way to the ant-hill, for the ground was rough 
and his limbs were numb with the cold. When 
he at last came to the home of the most indus- 
trious insect, not an ant could he see. Al- 

204 



OF THE GARDEN 

though he waited for an hour, not a sound did 
he hear. 

As he looked across to the pond, Jasper felt 
sure that he could see the glimmer of gold on 
the water and he wondered if it were not the 
glimmer of gold from the fairies' dresses. 
Feeling convinced of this, he lost as little time 
as possible in getting to the pond. But on 
reaching it, he was greatly disappointed to find 
that it was a little trick of the sunlight which 
had deceived him. 

Jasper was by this time quite discouraged. 
He rested on the bank of the pond and felt 
like weeping. He would doubtless have fol- 
lowed his inclination had his attention not been 
arrested by a gruff croak. He turned to see 
his friend, Mr. Rana, blinking in the sun- 
shine. 

"Oh, I am so glad to see you!" cried 
205 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

Jasper. " Can you tell me whether or 
not the fairies have been in the garden 
lately?" 

" Fairies in the garden? " said Mr. Rana 
slowly. "It is far too cold for the fairies. 
Why, I am sure they will not come to the 
garden again until next spring. Can't you 
see that they have kissed the flowers good-bye 
and that the sadness of their farewell kiss has 
withered the beautiful blossoms. See those 
drooping lilies and those blackened marigolds ! 
See the pansy bed and the rose-bushes! No, I 
am sure that the fairies will not visit this cold, 
cold garden until the spring sun warms the 
earth again. 

"All the little people of the garden have gone 
into winter quarters and I am out only by 
chance. When the sun ceases to feel as warm 
as it now does, I shall burrow down under the 

206 



OF THE GARDEN 

warm mud at the bottom of the pond and live 
there until next spring. 

" You cannot find a single ant wandering 
about now. They are all deep down under the 
earth in their homes and they will stay down 
there until spring and live on the food they 
have stored away. 

" The earthworm, who worked so diligently 
during the summer, is safe and warm in her 
burrow, and she will know enough to stay there 
until the grass begins to grow, even though she 
has but a dot of a brain. 

" I saw a house fly buzzing around here 
about noon, but she said that she was going into 
the house as soon as she saw a good chance. 
She said that she expected to secure a place be- 
hind some picture near the fireplace which she 
would try to keep until spring. She remarked 
that she had seen but one other fly for the past 

207 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

month. They were all either dead from the 
cold or had found shelter for the winter in 
warm cracks or crevices." 

Just then the cold wind blew, scattering the 
last few brown leaves about. "Brr! Brr!" 
said the frog. " It is too cold for me now that 
the sun is going down. Here is where I start 
on a long, warm winter under the mud." And 
Mr. Rana gave a great jump and went down 
under the cold water, leaving only a ripple on 
the surface to show where he had dived. 

" Well/' said Jasper, " that does not sound 
very encouraging to me. I wonder if the 
fairies will leave me to die of cold in this deso- 
late garden. O me! O me! What shall I 
do? To whom shall I go for help? " 

" Help! Help!" came a stifled voice near 
by. Jasper felt that it was only the echo of 
his cry for help, but again it came. 

208 



OF THE GARDEN 

" Help ! Help ! " The cry made him for- 
get his own misery and he rushed over to the 
pansy bed, for that was the direction from 
which the cry had come. 

He was just in time, for a poor, chilled but- 
terfly was making a last feeble attempt to 
struggle from under a chestnut burr which had 
fallen from a tree near by and had pinned her 
numbed wings down to the cold earth. 

Jasper helped her as quickly as he could, but 
it took a great effort to get the poor bruised 
wings unpinned. The butterfly was too weak 
to make Jasper understand, but he felt sure 
that she had something that she wanted to say 
to him. But cold and fatigue had done their 
work and she lived only a short while. 

The noise and confusion attracted a ground 
spider who was just entering her hole. She 
turned to satisfy her curiosity. Jasper saw 

209 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

her, and, being relieved on seeing one living 
creature near, asked if the fairies had been seen 
of late in the garden. 

The spider was very doubtful, but she could 
not believe that they would be out when the 
weather was so cold. She was not sure, but 
she had heard that they came to the garden 
only in the spring and in the summer, but never 
when the ground was cold and the flowers were 
dead. 

" You see," said the spider, " almost all the 
little people of the garden have gone to sleep 
for the winter. I was just going into my hole 
myself when I heard you helping that poor 
butterfly. 

" My cousins, who live in webs, are all curled 
up in the middle of the thickest part of their 
houses and will rest and sleep until spring. 

" Can you see that little cocoon up on that 
210 



OF THE GARDEN 

twig? A caterpillar is asleep in it. The mos- 
quitoes are all either dead from the cold or 
hidden away in a warm nook where the cold 
will not reach them. There will soon be snow, 
and when the white flakes fall, all the little 
people of the garden will be safe and warm. 

" Just feel that cold wind ! Good-bye ! It's 
underground for me now!" And the spider 
darted down under the ground so fast that Jas- 
per felt dizzy. 

" I guess the best and the wisest thing for 
me to do," said Jasper to himself, " is to go 
back to my garden home under the lily leaf. 
It is a poor shelter now that the frost has 
nipped it. I can't think that the fairies have 
deserted me." 

Jasper lifted his head in a determination to 
be brave even though things looked dark. 
Now if he had only known it, this is the thing 

211 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

above all others that the fairies like to see in 
their little friends. They will help more 
readily people who show this spirit than they 
will those who show discouragement. 

The sun was going down and the whole 
western sky was aglow with gold and rose as 
Jasper hopped back towards the lily bed. 

"How beautiful!" he exclaimed, as he no- 
ticed the reflection of the setting sun. " I re- 
member how beautiful the sunset used to look 

from my window in " But his sentence 

was never finished, for he was at that moment 
passing under a large maple-tree on which sev- 
eral leaves still clung. The frost had changed 
the once glossy green leaves into a beautiful 
crimson, tinged with yellow. One of the leaves 
fell down upon him and hit him with such force 
that he tumbled over. 

On getting up and looking to see what had 

212 



OF THE GARDEN 

caused the trouble, he saw that the leaf was cov- 
ered with the finest perforations. Something 
seemed to tell him that it was a message for 
him. When he studied it carefully he found 
that it was a communication from the fairies, 
and it read: 

" When the western sky is all red and silver, 
go down to the pond. Take some water from 
the side where the water-lilies grew the thickest 
this summer. Take six drops of water in a 
fairy dipper which you will find there and put 
your head into this water three times. It mat- 
ters not how cold it is. I need not give you 
further directions. You will know what to do 
next. Good-bye, little Jasper! Be a good 
boy and may the fairies always love and keep 
you." 

Jasper lost no time in following these direc- 
tions. As fast as his numbed little legs could 

213 



THE LITTLE PEOPLE 

carry him, he hastened to the pond, and there 
he found a fairy dipper of the finest glass. 
Indeed, it looked more like gossamer than 
glass, and it held only six drops of water. Into 
this cold water Jasper plunged his head, once, 
twice — the third time he felt so very queer. 
Why, he seemed to be shaken by a great strong 

hand and Could he believe it? He was 

no longer an insect with six long legs and a 
green-and-white body and wings with which 
he could fly, but a small boy with a clean white 
blouse and neat blue trousers. And best of 
all, he could see the lights shining in his own 
sitting-room windows and the flicker of the 
open fire on the wall. 

Away he bounded out of the beautiful gar- 
den into his own front yard, through the front 
door and right into the wide-open arms of his 
mother and father. 

214 



OF THE GARDEN 

They must have known that the fairies were 
going to send him home that night, for they 
had prepared for him a supper of fried chicken, 
chocolate cake, ice-cream and many other 
things that Jasper liked. 




215 



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